Fitness and physiotherapy - an unequal couple

While fitness studios operate on the market under purely economic aspects, the physiotherapist focuses on the healing process of a patient. However, the economic situation of many physiotherapy practices is often tense. Under this economic aspect and due to the commonality of the training, new forms of offers arise on the market, which consist of an interesting mixture of physiotherapy and fitness.

Many practices suffer from a shortage of qualified staff. On the other hand, the demand for physiotherapeutic services has increased in the population. It is not only the shortage of qualified staff that poses an economic challenge for the operators of physiotherapy practices. Therefore, more and more physiotherapy practices are offering self-paying services to their patients.

Physiotherapeutic knowledge is increasingly in demand in studios

In contrast, the fitness industry has grown continuously over the past 15 years. Once reserved for the "power packs", the offerings of the nearly 10,000 fitness studios in Germany now range from small, individually managed fitness clubs or EMS studios to numerous fitness chains and health centres that offer physiotherapy services in addition to fitness.

Each physiotherapist also deals with training therapy and the five motor skills during his or her training: Strength, endurance, speed, coordination and mobility, which are responsible for all control and functional processes for moving the human body. While this knowledge is of great importance for therapy, we also see this training of motor skills in the gym.

When therapy becomes fun with movement

People who go to the gym want to increase or maintain their physical performance on their own initiative. In order to get closer to the dream of the beach figure or for a better well-being and health, the exerciser is willing to pay contributions. On the other hand, those who receive a referral to a physiotherapist usually suffer from restricted movement or pain. The conditions are therefore much more difficult.

The challenge for the physiotherapist is not only to eliminate the cause of the functional disorders of the musculoskeletal system and, if necessary, to build up strength and endurance, but also to keep the patient motivated, because in the best case the training therapy becomes fun in movement. This then results in the willingness to continue training in a self-paying area of physiotherapy under professional supervision or in a fitness studio.

How fitness and physio can complement each other

A wide variety of models of cooperation between physiotherapy and fitness have already developed on the market. Fitness studios are hiring physiotherapists to expand their services, attract and retain members. On the other hand, physiotherapists from their practices have developed health centres in which not only patients train in a self-paying area similar to a gym. In addition, there are loose cooperations in which a physiotherapist and a fitness studio are located directly next to each other.

It is considered certain that these different models, consisting of a combination of physiotherapy and fitness, will continue to develop on the market. This is primarily due to the great potential of inactive people, who can still discover the importance of training for their well-being and health. However, the abilities of physiotherapy and fitness are equally required to master this task.