Is physical therapy and personal training redundant?
Short answer: Of course they are not.
Physical therapy and personal training have different goals and approaches.
Physical Therapy is Health Care
Physical therapy is a type of Taking care of your health performed by licensed physical therapists.
Physical therapists are medical professionals.
The goal of physical therapy is to help people recover from injury, reduce pain and improve function, and prevent future injury or disability.
PTs use a variety of techniques such as exercise, manual therapy, and other modalities to help their patients reach these goals.
Pelvic floor physical therapy, in particular, focuses on rehabilitation and strengthening of the core and pelvic floor muscles.
Personal Training is an Exercise Guide and Coach
Personal training, on the other hand, is not health care. This is an exercise guide and tutorial offered by a certified personal trainer o certified strength and conditioning coach.
The goal of personal training is to help individuals achieve their fitness and performance goals.
Personal trainers design exercise programs, provide exercise instruction and offer coaching to help their clients reach those goals.
Postpartum personal training helps people safely and effectively build strength and achieve their fitness goals after pregnancy.
Different But Complementary Scope of Practice
Personal trainers cannot diagnose or treat disease and they cannot perform manual therapy.
But they can bridge rehab to performance. They bridge low-level rehab exercises to higher-level activities.
Physical therapists can treat pain and provide manual therapy. And of course, pelvic floor PTs can perform internal pelvic floor exams, diagnose pelvic floor dysfunctions and offer treatment.
In most cases (with absolute exceptions), they are not trained to design higher level exercise programs.
I have had several potential clients over the years who decided to “just do physical therapy” because their insurance covered X number of sessions.
Yes. And, if you have long-term fitness goals, Physical therapy alone won’t get there.
It’s not either/or.
It is both/and.
If you have goals, find yourself a good PT and a good trainer. That’s your dream team.
