A good example of a medical professional that practices what he preaches is Spencer Nadolsky, author of The Fat Loss Prescription. For those of you that have not heard of him, he has dubbed himself one of the #docswholift. He consistently puts out content of him working out and eating healthy, which is a great way to inspire patients to do the same!
There’s also been a lot of talk lately in the physical therapy and fitness community about how physical therapists don’t practice what they preach in regards to exercise. Here’s my thoughts on that:
- If you think about it in terms of personal training, are you going to listen to the trainer that looks like they workout or the trainer that looks like they sit on the couch? This does not mean that you have to look ripped, but there is value in looking the part.
- I’ve recently found myself telling my patients ‘I wouldn’t have you do this exercise unless I’ve tried it myself’. If you plan on prescribing an exercise to a patient, you should know what it feels like to perform that exercise!
When evaluating your current lifestyle, I challenge you to think that if you were a patient, would you listen to you? If the answer is “No,” I encourage you to take steps towards changing that answer to a “YES!”
Aimee Depelteau is a third year DPT student at East Tennessee State University. She currently resides as the Web Administrator for the AAOMPT Student SIG and is an APTA NSC Project Committee Member. She is also a member of an awesome mentorship group with Jeff Moore and Gene Shirokobrod. If you want to learn more, check her out at www.fitnerdphysios.com and follow her on Twitter @depelteauDPT.
