Ben: I have been following this thread eagerly (as an avid, perhaps maniacal, fitness focused person). I like this piece. I agree with your assessment of why people don't care for PT. That said, PT has a very clear goal. Something in your fitness routine (let's ignore others reasons for PT now and focus on fitness related injuries) is hurting you and what one needs is to back off, even fully at times. And then retrain the muscles, correctly (keyword) until you can go back to the norm. And it's entirely possible that the prior norm is not good healthy for one's body. I go through intense workouts (HIITs are my favorite but that will be in response to the other post of yours on which workouts are better or seemingly so ;) and know there is a risk of injury and over years of PT->backoff->workout again, I've learned that regular care (acupuncture (and I have no idea if this works but I think it does), massage) is better.
I suspect the reason people don't like PT or believe in it is because backing off fully never seems desirable and the endorphins etc reduce dramatically making one not feel as well (except in extreme injuries) and as you wrote, the process is SLOW! Entirely beats the joys one gets from working out (HIIT for 20-30 minutes a day is killing, in a satisfying kinda-way, for days!). One would never need PT if we had the time for carefully working out, knew enough to stop before pushing too much, etc. etc. But like our inaction on climate change, despite the knowledge, PT is a necessary evil due to our inability to moderate often :). I've hardly met people who like to exercise sometimes - they either love it (example, moi) or tolerate it/dislike it (example, my kids and spouse :). I've found regular care can reduce the need for PT. One can call them rest and recovery days or even minutes in every day :).
Totally agree with all of this. The two PTs I've worked with stressed that you have to commit to PT after you're "healed" too. They both emphasized exercises to prevent future injuries.
Like you say, going back to the gym and going all out without proper recovery and "prehab" (if you will), is just going to lead to another injury. This summer I've been doing three two-hour training sessions per week. But on the 4 "off" days, I do a lot of light cardio and mobility work for active recovery. The work on those off days is important!
Also, you remind me that I need to find a massage therapist...
You may be young but I have learned that short burst of 5 days a week workouts are far more effective as I age ;) (causal inference/statistical proof? yes, lot more muscle mass and a whole internet group and some research) than 2 hour long workouts. Don't mean to argue or sound rude here. Just thinking out loud. Two hours is long and most times one is spent after even 30 minute HIIT workouts. So kudos to you! A good massage is the equivalent of a workout -- it can be hard on your muscles and one then realizes how much those muscles have borne the brunt of the training. Mobility work is key -- should be almost like PT.
On a related note, toe CARS are easy but running became progressively harder past my 20s and 30s :(. I don't run anymore and HIITs kill my shins plenty in a good way.
They are if one has weird hypermobility abilities (it is a disorder, sadly :) and I apparently carry a gene for it and it's worse in my progeny. Another topic for another day.
Ben: I have been following this thread eagerly (as an avid, perhaps maniacal, fitness focused person). I like this piece. I agree with your assessment of why people don't care for PT. That said, PT has a very clear goal. Something in your fitness routine (let's ignore others reasons for PT now and focus on fitness related injuries) is hurting you and what one needs is to back off, even fully at times. And then retrain the muscles, correctly (keyword) until you can go back to the norm. And it's entirely possible that the prior norm is not good healthy for one's body. I go through intense workouts (HIITs are my favorite but that will be in response to the other post of yours on which workouts are better or seemingly so ;) and know there is a risk of injury and over years of PT->backoff->workout again, I've learned that regular care (acupuncture (and I have no idea if this works but I think it does), massage) is better.
I suspect the reason people don't like PT or believe in it is because backing off fully never seems desirable and the endorphins etc reduce dramatically making one not feel as well (except in extreme injuries) and as you wrote, the process is SLOW! Entirely beats the joys one gets from working out (HIIT for 20-30 minutes a day is killing, in a satisfying kinda-way, for days!). One would never need PT if we had the time for carefully working out, knew enough to stop before pushing too much, etc. etc. But like our inaction on climate change, despite the knowledge, PT is a necessary evil due to our inability to moderate often :). I've hardly met people who like to exercise sometimes - they either love it (example, moi) or tolerate it/dislike it (example, my kids and spouse :). I've found regular care can reduce the need for PT. One can call them rest and recovery days or even minutes in every day :).
Totally agree with all of this. The two PTs I've worked with stressed that you have to commit to PT after you're "healed" too. They both emphasized exercises to prevent future injuries.
Like you say, going back to the gym and going all out without proper recovery and "prehab" (if you will), is just going to lead to another injury. This summer I've been doing three two-hour training sessions per week. But on the 4 "off" days, I do a lot of light cardio and mobility work for active recovery. The work on those off days is important!
Also, you remind me that I need to find a massage therapist...
You may be young but I have learned that short burst of 5 days a week workouts are far more effective as I age ;) (causal inference/statistical proof? yes, lot more muscle mass and a whole internet group and some research) than 2 hour long workouts. Don't mean to argue or sound rude here. Just thinking out loud. Two hours is long and most times one is spent after even 30 minute HIIT workouts. So kudos to you! A good massage is the equivalent of a workout -- it can be hard on your muscles and one then realizes how much those muscles have borne the brunt of the training. Mobility work is key -- should be almost like PT.
On a related note, toe CARS are easy but running became progressively harder past my 20s and 30s :(. I don't run anymore and HIITs kill my shins plenty in a good way.
Hah! Toe CARs are not easy! :)
Hip CARS on the other hand, while seemingly easy are essential for some of us :). I
They are if one has weird hypermobility abilities (it is a disorder, sadly :) and I apparently carry a gene for it and it's worse in my progeny. Another topic for another day.