Physical health is a pretty big deal. As you likely know, being overweight can have detrimental effects on your physical well-being. What you might not likely know is that many physical therapists are pretty good at helping you implement changes to you physical activity in ways that can help you lose weight (and subsequently prevent further pain and injury).

Physical therapy can help you lose weight if needed. While most people think that physical therapy is just for exercise rehabilitation, many physical therapists have high levels of expertise for helping individuals gain confidence with exercise and can design routines for strength gain, fitness conditioning and weight loss.

If you’re curious just as to the powerful and unique ways that physical therapy and a physical therapist can help you to lose weight, keep on reading as this article contains some incredibly great insight towards just what physical therapy can offer you for helping to lose some weight.

Physical therapy is more than just therapeutic exercises for rehabilitation

In a traditional sense, physical therapy is focused predominately on injury recovery and movement correction. Many physical therapists and clinics still focus solely on this approach, but not all of them. Many of them within recent years have begun to implement a much larger portion of their practice being based on injury prevention through active and healthy lifestyle modifications.

The reason for this shift is due to the field of physical therapy being concerned with injury prevention. As physical therapists, we truly believe that prevention is better than ANY cure. The amazing thing about the human body is that a body that is in better physical shape is more resilient to sustaining injury.

It therefore makes sense that physical therapists strive to help individuals become healthier in order to avoid further injuries and diseases that are more likely to occur when a patient is out of shape, overweight and/or not making healthy lifestyle choices.

What this all means is that there is a high degree of emphasis on physical therapy not just focusing on exercise after injury, but before (and thus hopefully preventing) injury occurs.

How this directly impacts you: Physical therapists implement a number of strategies and interventions with their patients that are focused on healthy lifestyle modifications, which can ultimately to lead to weight loss. Prevention is better than any cure, and since being overweight can lead to a host of physical and medical issues, physical therapists strive to employ strategies that can help their patients lose weight.

Physical activity is required for healthy weight loss, but you can’t be active if you’re in chronic pain when moving

If you’re having a hard time moving due to pain or stiffness, it can be hard or practically impossible to perform physical activities on a regular basis. When you can’t sustain regular, ongoing physical activities that you enjoy, weight loss becomes incredibly difficult.

A physical therapist who can help eliminate or substantially reduce your pain and improve your physical movement abilities essentially gives you a license to make regular physical exercise and activities that you enjoy more of a reality.

Think of it like a car: A car can’t keep running and moving around from point A to point B when it’s broken down. Taking your car to your mechanic to get it fixed up allows the car to get back on the road and travel all over the place.

How this directly impacts you: You can’t stay physically active when you’re in pain or have troublesome movement dysfunctions. The more pain you’re in, the less physically active you can be. The more you’re able to move, the more energy you can burn. When you can move more, exercise more frequently and couple it with a healthy diet, weight loss becomes a new reality.

Physical therapists can help you have confidence in selecting appropriate exercises and performing them with confidence

If you have a pre-existing injury, movement dysfunction or physical condition, you may not be certain as to which types of movements or exercises will be beneficial and appropriate for your body. The last thing you want to do is perform exercises for weight loss that may aggravate or worsen your pain or ongoing condition.

Physical therapists are trained up quite extensively on understanding how exercise and movement can affect the body when injuries and diseases are present. We have a good understanding of movements that should be encouraged and avoided based on one’s physical condition, and helping these individuals is what our profession is all about.

How this directly impacts you: When you have confidence that the exercises you’re performing are appropriate for your physical needs and physical goals, you will avoid further injury and pain – this means you’ve now got a much higher likelihood of staying regularly active throughout the future, helping you with a successful weight loss journey.

Physical therapists are very educated and knowledgeable on exercise physiology and healthy lifestyles

The science behind human physiology and exercise can be pretty complex. Thankfully, it’s not your job to know the details. Physical therapists have taken coursework throughout their time in PT school (and oftentimes in their undergraduate studies as well) on exercise physiology (how the body behaves and responds to exercise) along with other advanced coursework focusing on healthy lifestyles and interventions for promoting better health.

What this means for you is that you can rest assured that most physical therapists will be able to provide you with the general principles and guidelines that will be most appropriate for you as you look to improve your physical activity levels in order to help lose weight.

Some physical therapists have advanced training and certifications in fitness training

Different physical therapists have different specialties within their field of practice. If you’re looking for a therapist who truly specializes in exercises and physical training, there are plenty of them out there. You can often identify them through specific credentials they may have.

Many physical therapists who specialize in this realm (such as myself) have taken extra training and have received credentialing such as a CSCS designation (I was a personal trainer for years before becoming a physical therapist). To this day, I still do personal training on top of working as a physical therapist.

The CSCS designation stands for Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, which is an internationally recognized certification through the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) and requires a minimum training of a bachelor’s degree with specific coursework taken in human physiology and exercise science.

There are plenty more great credentials that a physical therapist can have that are similar to this one, however the CSCS is typically seen as more of the gold-standard for health & fitness professionals.

How this directly impacts you: If you’re looking for more than just the basics when it comes to getting active, staying safe and appropriate exercise or activity selection, working with physical therapists who specialize in strength and conditioning can be your best bet. Not only do they have the advanced knowledge needed to ensure your body is staying safe and healthy, they also have the ability to maximize your physical performance and take your physical activity regimens to highly specialized and advanced levels.

Some physical therapists have advanced training and certifications in general nutritional studies & coaching

While physical therapists receive a baseline of training in general nutrition throughout their undergraduate studies and PT schooling, some choose to pursue further coursework and credentialing to gain an even more in-depth understanding of nutrition.

Now, let’s be clear: This extra coursework DOES NOT make the physical therapist a registered dietitian or nutritionist unless they have completed the required schooling to earn this designation. A nutritionist or dietitian has the scope of practice to offer Medical Nutritional Therapy (MNT), whereas the physical therapist doesn’t.

But if an individual who does not require medical nutritional therapy (which involves attempting to correct, improve or eliminate a disease through dietary modification) is wanting to understand how general dietary changes can help with weight loss and better energy levels, physical therapists (especially those with advanced understanding of general nutrition) can provide helpful information and strategies that can help a patient be successful with weight loss.

As an example, physical therapists who have a “Pn1” or “Pn2” credential behind their name have completed a certification program through Precision Nutrition (the link will take you to their website). Precision Nutrition is widely regarded as the leading authority in nutritional coaching and training for individuals looking to further enhance their nutritional understanding AND their ability to effectively coach individuals through non medical nutritional therapy means.

How this directly affects you: If you don’t require medical nutritional therapy, physical therapists can provide general dietary guidelines that are enough for what the vast majority of otherwise healthy patients will need in order to lose weight. Some physical therapists may even have an advanced understanding of nutrition or coaching strategies for helping you achieve better results with your weight loss.

Concluding remarks

Physical therapy can indeed help you to lose weight, but don’t expect it to be through gizmos and devices that let you sit still and do nothing. Rather, expect it come in the form of a highly educational-based approach coupled with eliminating and preventing pain from occurring, so that you are able to become (and stay) more regularly physically active.

You can also rest assured that a physical therapist who specializes in exercise, physical strengthening and conditioning can help craft exercise regimens for you that are appropriate based on the unique physical condition of your body and its movement abilities. They can also provide a certain level of nutritional advice and provide peace of mind as to whether you’re on the right track with your lifestyle changes or not.

If you’re looking to make some changes and take some steps towards a healthier lifestyle, your physical therapist can likely help you out more than you’re aware. It does vary from one physical therapist to the next, based on their area of practice and expertise, but every physical therapist has enough knowledge to help you get started with the basics, and for the vast majority of individuals, the basics – when performed on a consistent and sustainable basis – are all that it takes to make the changes most people are looking for.

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