Medical Exercise Specialists are found on six continents around the globe. They have made a major impact on health care systems and the fitness industry around the world. The need for medical exercise training (MET) is growing and will continue to do so over the next 20 years. But with that growth we also see a proliferation of medical exercise/medical fitness certifications. The concern with this proliferation is the “read a book…take an exam” approach to MET education.
You would run if a physician or therapist remarked he or she simply read the book and took their licensure exam. The same should hold true for the medical exercise professional. Managing medical conditions with exercise isn’t simply knowing a few exercises for a condition….its understanding the related anatomy and pathology of the condition and how exercise is applied. We now see the medical exercise/medical fitness certificate becoming another “merit badge” for the...
For Medical Exercise Specialists to be more effective and produce positive outcomes, packaging or bundling MET services to meet the needs of the clients and their conditions is important. Usually MET services are provided in a singular manner. Services such as one-on-one training, group classes and medical membership are offered separately. For effective management of chronic conditions a shift to packaging all MET services necessary to produce a positive outcome is preferred.
These are the 7 steps to packaging MET services:
At this point packaging MET services is seldom avaiable to the client as initial offering . But as the demand for MET grows so will the need to offer ...
Medical Exercise Specialists are working with more clients and the numbers are continuing to grow. With the changes in insurance reimbursement, many clients are seeking medical exercise training services but are not quite ready for such. Each client presenting for medical exercise training services must complete a screening to determine if they are ready for MET. The screening process will identify "RED FLAGS".
Red flags indicate the client is NOT "medically-stable" nor ready to begin exercise outside a clinical setting. "Medically-stable" means the client can tolerate 30 minutes of exercise and symptoms such as pain, swelling, etc have been stabilized. In your screening look for these Red Flags:
Though exercise may have a positive impact on each of these items, it may also have a significant...
As a Medical Exercise professional you will work with a wide range of clients when you open your practice. You will clients with neurological disorders (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and CVA), cardiovascular conditions (hypertension, myocardial infarcts, coronary bypasses) and musculoskeletal disorders (total hip and knee replacements, disc herniations and meniscal tears). These are just some of the conditions you will work with in your practice.
Clients will also seek your services to correct postural and muscular imbalances and/or to improve strength, endurance or flexibility around a joint. With all clients, complete a thorough medical history interview BEFORE initiating any assessment procedures or exercise programming.
Go to MET101Ebook.com to get your copy.
Medical exercise professionals must effectively manage the “BIG 6”. These six conditions are major contributors to the skyrocketing health care costs we see across the globe. The “BIG 6” include:
The costs of managing these conditions is the primary reason every medical exercise professional should learn to manage these conditions. If you focus on these six conditions you can build a strong practice.
The majority of clients referred to medical exercise training (MET) are there due to “residual functional deficits”. As we have mentioned in previous blog posts, over the last 25 years the reimbursement for rehabilitation services has diminished. As a result physical therapy patients are discharged earlier. We saw trend starting in the early 1990’s. This prompted us to develop the “Medical Exercise Specialist” certification. Insurance reimbursement for physical therapy is now roughly half of what it was in the 90’s. With patients being discharged earlier, we estimate roughly 80% of those discharged from physical therapy have functional deficits and need a safe and effective exercise program to enhance their level of function at work, at home or with sports. FUNCTION is the driving factor for medical exercise training!
The function wheel above identifies the nine key elements of human function. These elements may be...
Do doctors understand the importance of MET and how to use it?
No, physicians will not understand medical exercise training (MET) but don't let this be a deterrent. Most physicians realize exercise is beneficial for their patients but as far as prescribing specifics with exercise, such as activities, frequency, duration and progression, they wont know how. But they aren't trainerd to know exercise. Physicians are trained to diagnose and treat disease. In learning to treat disease, they perform surgery, write prescriptions; read x-rays; and interpret diagnostic tests...exercise prescription is not part of the standard medical school curriculum.
But their defense - which would you prefer? You go to the emergency room at 2 in the morning with a sick child. Would you want the physician to have the ability to interpret the diagnostic test(s) to determine your child's illness and the best course of treatment or do you want a physician that understands exercise...
Medical exercise training and corrective exercise are growing rapidly. It’s important to make sure both concepts are used appropriately. Many clients may report pain and discomfort to their fitness professional. In many instances, the immediate response is to think of an exercise to manage the discomfort. Obviously, the personal trainer, corrective exercise specialist or medical exercise professional cannot diagnose. But there should be some process to determine if the client should seek medical care.
In the corrective execise realm the response may be to put the client through a screening to determine what exercise will manage the discomfort or the accompanying muscular imbalance. We need to start thinking beyond muscular and postural imbalances as the source of client pain and discomfort. In many cases, these non-muscular/postural sources of discomfort are not considered by the corrective exercise specialist or personal trainer.
In the METI – Medical Exercise...
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