Exercise is Medicine – Exercise as the key to health

Growing old healthy and fit is the goal of most people. Unfortunately, the reality often looks different. Far too many people fall ill as a result of lack of exercise. To strengthen health, prevent diseases and support regeneration, exercise and sport are proven instruments. This is where the “Exercise is Medicine” initiative comes in.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) set out to change the negative global trend of physical inactivity. After decades of development, the Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) programme was born. EIM is a global initiative under the auspices of the ACSM. Its main goal is to promote exercise as an integral part of maintaining and restoring health. Physical activity must be an essential component of disease prevention and treatment. Physicians and other health care providers should view exercise as a vital parameter to be taught, promoted and supported. This includes evaluating exercise and integrating it into patient care. It is important to effectively counsel patients and refer them to specialists according to their health needs and physical fitness.

In 2015, the independent EIM Centre emerged as a non-profit, non-governmental organization in Europe under the name “European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine” (EIEIM), based in Ulm and initiated and founded in collaboration with EIM in the United States. By recruiting other key players in health, sport and exercise, the aim is to create an alliance that will advance the goals of EIM. With the member organizations, different professional groups and institutions, such as doctors, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, associations, sports and physiotherapists, fitness studio operators, companies, but also politics are to be brought to support these goals. In doing so, EIM Germany is to support existing initiatives of its member organizations on a subsidiary basis, provide funds for them and contribute new ideas.

• The integration of physical activity into medical treatment plans.
• The integration of physical activity into primary and secondary prevention.
• Integrating physical activity into medical school curricula
• Creating widespread awareness that physical activity is indeed medicine
• Making physical activity a topic of conversation in every patient visit (recording it in the medical history)
• Supporting physicians and other health care providers to effectively counsel patients about physical activity and to develop referral schemes.
• Political rethinking that leads to an increase in the value of physical activity in medicine
• Increasing the motivation of physicians and other health care providers to be physically active themselves
• Organizing congresses, symposia and training courses
• Certification, licensing and auditing of further education and training programmes, as far as permitted by non-profit law.
• Cooperation with other societies, associations and organizations in the spirit of the initiative, as far as permissible under non-profit law.

For years, FIBO has been an important interface between fitness and health. It brings together suppliers of health-oriented training equipment and concepts with doctors and physiotherapists. As a partner of the worldwide initiative, FIBO is committed to an active and healthy lifestyle. On FIBO Friday 2023, an “Exercise is Medicine Day” will be held, aimed primarily at studio operators, physiotherapists, sports physicians and institutions. Focal points are the topics “Bringing movement to the city (institutions, associations, clubs)”, “Movement in old age” and “Covid-19”. Secure your ticket.