Developing Dysfunction Along With Fitness

Exercise can be a struggle, but it shouldn't be painful. If you can run a good time in a 5k, but have aches and pains for days after, you likely have a problem. If you are increasing your PR in the squat rack, but your joint pain is increasing right along with it, pushing through it isn't a good idea. Sure, some muscle soreness and fatigue after a hard workout is normal. But if you're having pain that doesn't go away, sore joints, or trouble moving after exercise, you're probably developing movement dysfunction along with your fitness.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction is impaired or abnormal movement. Usually this results from an underlying issue like muscle weakness, a painful joint, or a loss of range of motion. Trying to exercise through these types of things will cause your body to move in a suboptimal way. This
increases your risk for injury, or causes pain. Movement dysfunctions may not appear until you start a new workout routine. Sometimes they have been there for years. Other times, our body will adapt to workouts and activities, leading to these dysfunctions appearing. 

It is important to remember that if you are needing to take over-the-counter medications to decrease your pain following a workout, or in anticipation of a workout, then something needs to change. There is most likely an underlying movement dysfunction that needs to be addressed. 

Preventative Medicine

Pain during workouts, or pain and soreness that don't go away after can be warning signs of a movement dysfunction. If you're experiencing any of these, your physical therapist is a movement expert who can help. PTs are trained to analyze movement, and figure out the root cause of problems. They can then design a program to treat the cause and correct the abnormal pattern. There is no need to wait until you're injured to see your physical therapist. In fact, it's preferable not to. Getting minor problems fixed early means fewer visits to the PT, less pain, and not having your workouts put on hold by injury. If you are in the Falls Church or Arlington, VA areas, give us a call, or look up your local physical therapist to get seen today!

About The Private Practice Section of the American Physical Therapy Association

Founded in 1956, the Private Practice Section of the American Physical Therapy Association champions the success of physical therapist-owned businesses. Our members are leaders and innovators in the health care system. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) represents more than 85,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants and students of physical therapy nationwide. For more information, please visit www.ppsapta.org.

Author

Alana Hamilton Alana Hamilton is a physical therapist at Advantage Physical Therapy in Falls Church, Virginia. She is a proud Hokie from Virginia Tech with a major in Biology and a minor in psychology and sociology. Following graduation, she immediately got her doctorate in Physical Therapy from Radford University. She is an avid fan of Pilates, running, and hiking. On the weekends, she can be found hanging out with her family and baby as well as doing Spartan races with her old physical therapy classmates and friends. She is a big believer that during rehabilitation, "Motion is the Lotion" and that staying active is key to remaining healthy.