Jennifer's ePortfolio

 PTA 2300 & 2310

Therapeutic Exercises and Lab

I really enjoyed the Therapeutic Exercise class and lab.  We covered so many interesting topics that taught me that therapeutic exercise is probably the most effective treatment in physical therapy.  This includes everything from providing a functional range of motion by stretching tight muscles and mobilizing joints, to strengthening muscles for stabilization and mobilization of body parts.

One of the most notable things we studied is a technique called PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation). This technique can help patients re-educate their muscles through functional movement patterns, and can also be progressed to increase strength, speed and efficiency of movement for athletes.  The great thing about these exercises is that they use multiple joints and the movements are diagonal.  If you think about the way people move during normal activities, they don't just flex their elbow for example.  They flex the elbow and shoulder and bring their arm up diagonally.  PNF helps to incorporate all of these movements, and increases the ability to move in natural ways.

We also learned about using different types of equipment.  One of our assignments was to research a specific piece of equipment and do a presentation for the class.  There were a number of choices, many of which I had no knowledge of.  It was interesting to learn about all of the equipment and the different applications each could be used for.  The one my partner and I did our presentation on was the BOSU Balance Trainer.  It had so many exercises that I wasn't aware of, and could be used for almost everything.  I had a hard time deciding which exercises to include in the presentation, I settled on ones that could be done by beginners and modified to be more challenging for higher level athletes.  I have included the handout below.  Completing this assignment and learning about other equipment from my classmates was interesting.  It helped me see the numerous exercises that can be done with multiple pieces of equipment, and that a little imagination can make an exercise program fun and interesting.