Medically Based Fitness Program
Choose Your Path
Do you wonder what living your life would be like if you were in better physical health? Have you thought about starting an exercise program, but avoided it because you feel you’re too out-of-shape to begin, too unhealthy? Do you suffer with health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, hyper tension or obesity? Do these issues make you fearful of exercising without proper guidance and supervision? Physical Solutions, now offers a Medically Based Fitness Program designed specifically for individuals who have never exercised, including those who may suffer medical conditions related to their inactive lifestyle.
Recent US healthcare reform efforts (i.e., Obamacare) have had two goals in mind: improve the quality of healthcare and spend less money doing it. Politicians and healthcare experts have implemented major overhauls to the healthcare system. While the system of healthcare delivery has been completely altered, many experts doubt that the changes implemented thus far will achieve either improved quality or decreased spending. Inevitably, the failure of reform will be due to a lack or political will and common sense. According to Chris Lopez, physical therapist and partner at Physical Solutions, “One of the gravest common sense omissions to reform has been a reluctance to admit, with adequate publicity, the country’s greatest problem: Americans are not healthy.”
50% of all US healthcare spending goes towards 5% of the population. Putting aside genetic conditions, the epidemics of obesity and diabetes, have contributed greatly to this decline in health and increase in overall healthcare spending. According to the CDC, 69% of adult Americans are currently either overweight or obese. Obesity contributes significantly towards increased incidence of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers. Obesity is the leading cause of preventable death in the US, causing an estimated 200,000 preventable deaths annually. In 2014, it was estimated that $147-210 billion was spent on obesity-related medical expenditures.
Obesity is generally related to poor diet and inadequate amount of daily physical activity. Unfortunately, even when an individual becomes aware of the fact that they need to lose weight and improve their health, they don’t typically know what to do or where to turn. Further complicating matters is the likelihood and they may have medical considerations (i.e., high blood pressure, uncontrolled blood sugar, musculoskeletal issues etc.), which need to be taken into account when starting on a new diet, beginning exercise or otherwise making new lifestyle decisions.
Until now, there has been little guidance to offer such an individual. Oftentimes, this has meant that, lacking adequate support and direction, they simply gave up before they ever began. At other times, the more ambitious have embarked on making changes without an appropriate plan, hurting themselves (or worse) in the process. Physical Solutions Physical Therapy and Fitness has created a Medically Based Fitness Program, which is intended to monitor more closely individuals suffering with the medical complications associated with obesity and diabetes.
Following a thorough health screening, fitness programs are designed specifically to take into account the member’s health status and fitness goals. Communication is established with the member’s general practice physician, to ensure member safety is always maintained. Members are reassessed at regular intervals to measure progress and ensure program appropriateness. Member education is another key component to successfully altering lifestyles to promote better seminars, which include educational presentations from nutritionist, physicians, physical therapists and personal trainers.
It has been estimated that lowering the body mass index (BMI) of Americans by 5% could save over $600 billion over the next 20 years. “We are trying to do our part within the small communities we serve to help achieve this goal of better health” states Mr. Lopez. “We hope that this type of medically based program could be spread out to other communities across the United States. We remain dedicated to improving the health of our clientele, enhancing their quality of life, and minimizing the complications and costs associated with being healthy.”
Unlike the political process of reform, which has seldom seemed to make much sense, this program makes sense in a very simple way. As similar programs grows, the hope is that they will contribute to more overall improvements in the healthcare sector and society in general then all other reform measures combined.
Chris Lopez is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy as well as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He is part owner of Physical Solutions, a physical therapy and fitness organization with locations in Mineola and Bethpage, NY.
For more information on Physical Solutions Medically Based Fitness Program, please contact us by phone (516)746-6350.