MET Explained

A brief introduction to Medical Exercise Therapy

Is Your Therapist Practicing MET?

MET Explained

A brief introduction to Medical Exercise Therapy

Is Your Therapist Practicing MET?

What is Medical Exercise Therapy?

Medical exercise therapy or therapeutic exercise needs to be distinguished from general exercises which are performed at a gym or wellness center. Although general exercises are beneficial for overall health and well-being and are encouraged for all, therapeutic exercises are specific and delivered by a healthcare provider. Therapeutic exercises are exercises to correct and improve movement and functional deficits and impairments related to diseases or injuries which may be associated with symptoms such as pain, swelling, fatigue. The latest research encourages healthcare providers to use therapeutic exercise as the main intervention strategy and in many cases the first intervention for all musculoskeletal conditions including joint, muscle problems, chronic back pain etc. Therapeutic exercises are recommended in many cases even before the consideration of diagnostic imaging, surgery and the use of opioids in the case of chronic pain. Providers are also strongly encouraged to use modalities and manual therapy only to facilitate an appropriate intense therapeutic exercise program. This means if your rehab provider spends most of your visit’s time on passive interventions you will not achieve optimal outcomes.

Is Your Therapist Practicing MET?

What is Medical Exercise Therapy?

Medical exercise therapy or therapeutic exercise needs to be distinguished from general exercises which are performed at a gym or wellness center. Although general exercises are beneficial for overall health and well-being and are encouraged for all, therapeutic exercises are specific and delivered by a healthcare provider. Therapeutic exercises are exercises to correct and improve movement and functional deficits and impairments related to diseases or injuries which may be associated with symptoms such as pain, swelling, fatigue. The latest research encourages healthcare providers to use therapeutic exercise as the main intervention strategy and in many cases the first intervention for all musculoskeletal conditions including joint, muscle problems, chronic back pain etc. Therapeutic exercises are recommended in many cases even before the consideration of diagnostic imaging, surgery and the use of opioids in the case of chronic pain. Providers are also strongly encouraged to use modalities and manual therapy only to facilitate an appropriate intense therapeutic exercise program. This means if your rehab provider spends most of your visit’s time on passive interventions you will not achieve optimal outcomes.

Is Your Therapist Practicing MET?

Why all therapists should use a dynamometer in their practice

You would never hire a carpenter to build your house if he told you he never uses a tape measure.  Without using a dynamometer to measure the starting resistance of an exercise, therapists are only able to approximate a patient's performance.  This introduces a high degree of variation in the effectiveness of therapy and often sub-optimizes patient outcomes. By using a standardized system of measuring techniques and measuring devices, MET therapists can precisely quantify patient performance and target improvements against established performance benchmarks measured in healthy patients. On average, MET therapists using a hand-held dynamometer will achieve a minimum of 30% better performance, as compared to therapists using only Manual Muscle Testing (MMT)

Why all therapists should use a dynamometer in their practice

You would never hire a carpenter to build your house if he told you he never uses a tape measure.  Without using a dynamometer to measure the starting resistance of an exercise, therapists are only able to approximate a patient's performance.  This introduces a high degree of variation in the effectiveness of therapy and often sub-optimizes patient outcomes. By using a standardized system of measuring techniques and measuring devices, MET therapists can precisely quantify patient performance and target improvements against established performance benchmarks measured in healthy patients. On average, MET therapists using a hand-held dynamometer will achieve a minimum of 30% better performance, as compared to therapists using only Manual Muscle Testing (MMT)