Building Strength through Rehab

As the final part of our partnership relaunch with Technique Health & Fitness, we explore the importance of rehab.

Rehabilitation is a crucial aspect of physical recovery, helping you to regain strength, flexibility, and function after injuries or surgeries. Physiotherapy plays an important role in this journey, helping us heal as quickly as possible – and reducing the risk of relapse.

Here are Technique’s key principles for building strength after a set back:

1. Gradual progression

One of the fundamental principles of effective rehab is gradual progression. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is strength. Pushing too hard, too fast can lead to setbacks and even re-injury. A well-designed rehabilitation plan takes into account your current physical capabilities and incrementally increases the intensity of exercises over time. This allows your body to adapt and strengthen while minimising the risk of over-doing things.

2. Quality over quantity

Proper technique is absolutely essential when it comes to recovery from an injury. Your physio and your Foundry Coach can work together to make sure you’re activating the right muscles and movement patterns. This not only prevents further injury but also maximises the effectiveness of each exercise, helping you get stronger, more balanced, and more resistant to hurting yourself again. Remember, it’s better to perform fewer reps with great form than to rush through exercises with poor technique.

3. Listen to your body

Pain is a complex signal that your body uses to communicate with you. During rehab, it’s important to pay attention to these signals. A useful guideline is the “3 out of 10 pain threshold.” On a pain scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being unbearable pain, aim to stay at or below 3/10 during exercises. This means you might experience some mild discomfort, but you shouldn’t be in real pain (which could be a sign that you’re causing damage). Staying within the 3/10 range means that you’re challenging your body to improve, while also staying safe and not making any injuries worse.

4. Consistency is key

Building strength over time requires consistency; so when you get a rehab plan from your physio, you need to stick to it. Skipping sessions or neglecting exercises will slow down your progress and lengthen your recovery time. Similarly, your Foundry Coach will adapt the session’s programming to help strengthen the injury, and it’s important to stick to their guidance to get the best results.

Effective rehab is built on a foundation of gradual progression, proper technique, listening to your body, consistency, and patience. By sticking to these principles, you’ll be well on your way to building strength over time and reclaiming your physical fitness.

Here at Foundry, we’re committed to helping you achieve your goals, and we believe that by prioritising injury prevention and addressing imbalances, you lay a strong foundation for your fitness journey.

Our partners at Technique have physio and sports massage clinics based in four out of five of our Foundry sites – making the gym your one-stop-shop for building a healthy, strong, and bulletproof body. Plus, all members get 15% off all Technique treatments.