Athletic therapists follow the Sports Medicine Model of care. Whether you have a dislocated knee or are recovering from a knee replacement, an athletic therapist can help. A local athletic therapist may use manual therapies, trigger point release, exercises and stretching, bracing and myofascial release techniques. There are actually quite a few similarities between a local athletic therapist and a physiotherapist. Your athletic therapist may work with your local physiotherapist and local family physician to create your ideal rehabilitation, recovery or overall well-being plan.  

Cardiac rehab traditionally is used to rehab people after having a heart attack, open heart surgery, angioplasty or similar cardiovascular event.

And usually there are several phases to cardiac rehab. It can start at the bedside, and then it progresses to outpatient programs in the hospital, where you'll be coming in and working with a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals: physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, exercise specialists, etc., etc., and really it takes a holistic approach to rehabbing the patient and preventing any future problems in terms of heart disease.

Cardiac rehab generally involves structured exercise in the hospital or perhaps in the community setting. And, you know, it involves some exercise on treadmills, bikes, rowing machines, that type of thing, and it's all instructor led and supervised by health professionals.If you're interested in this type of program, the best thing to do is contact your family doctor and ask for a referral to your local cardiac rehab program.This next exercise is a simple bicep curl. We’ve probably all done it before.

It’s a very simple one that you can do at home with just a set of dumbbells, and it’s perfect for someone who’s recovering from a heart attack or another type of heart event. But it’s important again to consult with your family doctor or exercise specialist whether this is suitable for you at this point in your recovery. The bicep curl is an exercise that we’ve probably all done at some point in our life. It involves a simple curling motion with a set of dumbbells, perhaps even some soup cans or other heavier objects that you have around the house. It involves the muscles in the front of your arm. Keep your knees a little bit bent to protect your back. I find that a stagger on the feet helps to promote good posture.

So there’s a simple bicep exercise that you can do at home. If you want a program that’s a little more customized to your needs, please consult your local physiotherapist, exercise specialist or trainer.

The tricep is the muscle that's located in the backside of the arm. A tricep exercise is great for someone who has diabetes because it's really simple to do at home with just a set of dumbbells. The tricep kickback involves muscles in the back of your arm, and the key thing here is to keep your elbow tight against your body and not swing about the shoulder. It's a really simple shoulder exercise that you can do at home with just a set of dumbbells. If you want a program that's more customized to your needs, please contact your local kinesiologist, physiotherapist or exercise specialist for a program that's designed for you. If you have questions about diabetes exercise, contact a local fitness provider.

It involves the muscles in your upper back as well as through your torso. It’s a great one for people who are trying to get rid of metabolic syndrome because again, it is a large muscle group exercise, and it will help out with increasing metabolism and again helping out with insulin sensitivity. 

So with the pull exercise, you can support your low back with the seat of a chair and then your legs just form a three-point stance so your low back is well supported. You notice torso is horizontal and parallel to the ground, and then it's just a pulling motion, very natural motion, lifting up.