How to Talk to Your Patients About Resistance Exercise
Resistance exercise, first popularized by Thomas DeLorme in 1945, remains underutilized despite its proven benefits for recovery and health. Many Americans fail to meet the CDC's recommendation of twice-weekly muscle-strengthening activities, prompting renewed efforts to improve physician-led exercise prescription. Doctors like Andrew Mock are using practical assessments and simple movement patterns to help patients start safe, effective strength training programs.
- ▪Thomas DeLorme developed progressive resistance exercise to help injured soldiers recover faster by focusing on strength rather than endurance.
- ▪Seventy percent of Americans do not perform resistance training twice weekly, and 60% do not engage in it at all.
- ▪The American College of Sports Medicine’s new position stand aims to help clinicians prescribe resistance training more effectively based on current evidence.
- ▪Doctors can assess patients’ readiness for strength training through simple movements like standing from a chair or performing a hip hinge.
- ▪Patients typically start with body-weight exercises like squats or hip hinges, progressing based on their initial physical capabilities and access to resources.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Medicine’s iron age unofficially began in 1945.That’s when US Army physician Thomas DeLorme, MD, showed that soldiers with orthopedic injuries responded so well to strength training that they could complete their rehab in a fraction of the time.DeLorme’s system, which he eventually referred to as “progressive resistance exercise,” went against the conventional emphasis on restoring muscular endurance following a major injury. His priority was rebuilding strength and muscle mass, which he believed were far more important to a full recovery.Ironically, the structure of his program — three sets of 10 — lives on, while DeLorme’s urgent message about the importance of muscular development hasn’t quite gotten through.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Medscape.
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