Anyone needing help to make the transition from illness or injury to full fitness in the UK is facing a challenge. Actually, two.
The first – the sometimes long, often uncomfortable journey of physical recovery and rehabilitation – is unavoidable. But the second – the messy, inefficient and ineffective way the fitness industry goes about rehab – is not.
Even taking account of funding issues, and the impact on availability and quality of care, the process is still way more difficult than it needs to be.
Typically, communication is poor – if not non-existent – between the Physios and PT’s who you’re relying on to fix you. Practices are often outmoded. And there’s a real lack of consistent standards and approaches. (Particularly in the Personal Training industry, where the lack of proper regulation means that professional standards are variable, to put it kindly.)
Clearly, rehab is long overdue a rethink. And at Ten, we’ve rethought it.
Being able to start with a blank sheet of paper, we have created what we call our ‘Circle of Care’. It’s Ten’s uniquely collaborative and integrated approach to whole-life fitness. And it has enabled us to create what seems to us to be the ideal rehabilitation process.
It involves a multidisciplinary team of top Physiotherapists and Sports Massage Therapists, expert Trainers, Pilates Instructors and Rehab Specialists, all under the same roof, freely sharing knowledge, insights and client history freely.
So everyone involved in each client’s treatment works together. We all share information, we all know what everyone else is doing and we all understand what the client needs, and when they need it.
While this might seem blindingly obvious (and, in truth, it is), it’s in stark contrast to the way the conventional fitness industry works.
Typically, Physiotherapists and PT’s work in isolation, even within practices or gyms. Clients are jealously guarded. Experience, information, and insights are rarely shared. Client history is often cursory.
At best, there’s a short note or phone call from the Physio to brief the trainer on a client’s history and injuries, at worst, it’s up to the patient to explain the history and effectively manage their own rehab themselves.
By contrast, Ten’s highly collaborative way of working offers two fundamental advantages for our clients.
First, we’re able to create a seamless and continuous progression of treatment, rehabilitation, corrective and functional exercise programmes to manage the journey from injury and dysfunction to full fitness. And second, we’re able to continually monitor, evaluate and adapt clients’ programmes to help speed that journey.
We can’t guarantee that the rehab will be easy or painless. But at lease we can ensure that the process will be.
