What is Clinical Exercise Prescription?

Clinical exercise prescription is a tailored approach to using exercise as a tool to improve chronic conditions, illnesses, and overall health and longevity. It involves the application of structured physical activity, designed by clinical exercise physiologists, to prevent, manage, or treat a variety of chronic conditions, diseases, and disabilities. Whether you’re recovering from surgery, managing a chronic illness, or aiming to improve overall fitness, clinical exercise prescription offers a safe, evidence-based approach to better manage, improve and prevent your conditions from worsening.

Why is it important?

Unlike general exercise programs, clinical exercise prescription is grounded in scientific research and personalised to each individual’s unique health status. This makes it especially effective for people who require specialised care, such as those with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, or neurological conditions. Our goal at Longevity Health and Fitness is to enhance physical function, reduce disease symptoms, and improve your overall quality of life.

Benefits of clinical exercise prescription:

• Individual prescription – Exercises and sessions are designed based on the specific needs and limitations of each individual.
• Safe – It reduces the risk of injury or exacerbation of health conditions by being overseen by a skilled clinical exercise physiologist within our team.
• Effective – Clinical exercise not only targets physical fitness but also enhances mental and social well-being, energy levels, and overall quality of life. It’s been shown to reduce symptoms like chronic pain, anxiety, and fatigue.

Who can benefit from clinical exercise prescription?

Anyone with medical considerations, recovering from surgery, interested in active ageing or aiming to improve specific health metrics can benefit from clinical exercise prescription. Below are some common groups of people we treat across London, Surrey and even online in countries across the world with our clinical exercise services. 

1. People with Chronic Diseases

Conditions like heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes benefit significantly from structured exercise. For example, aerobic exercise can help manage blood glucose levels in diabetics and improve cardiovascular function in those with heart disease.

2. Cancer Patients

Clinical exercise is highly beneficial for patients undergoing or recovering from cancer treatments. It can help improve quality of life, manage fatigue, reduce some of the symptoms and side effects of treatment, encourage independence and improve mental well-being.

3. Pre and Post-Surgery Patients

Clinical exercise prescription is invaluable for both pre and post-op rehabilitation. Before surgery, prescribed exercises can improve physical strength, mobility, and overall fitness, which helps the body better handle the stress of surgery and accelerates recovery. After surgery, tailored exercise plans help patients regain mobility, strength, and function while minimising the risk of complications.

4. People with Neurological Conditions

Conditions such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis (MS), and stroke can lead to significant mobility issues. Prescribed exercises for neuro-rehabilitation can help improve balance, coordination, mobility, muscle strength, and increase independence and function. 

Where do I start with clinical exercise prescription?

Clinical exercise prescription starts with a comprehensive assessment with one of our clinical exercise team members. This assessment evaluates your physical function and ability, considers your medical history, and current health conditions. From there, the practitioner creates a personalised clinical exercise program that together you would work through across a number of sessions together. The program would include sessions with your practitioner and also home exercises you can perform outside of any 1:1 work.

Key Components of Clinical Exercise Prescription

• Assessment – Every patient undergoes a thorough assessment which might include functional fitness measures and a medical history review. We will review your current activity levels and any specific activity you are currently undertaking. We’ll highlight key goals and areas of focus, specific to the measures identified in the consultation and assessment.
• Customisation – The exercise program is tailored to your needs, ensuring it aligns with your health status, limitations, and goals. For instance, if you’re someone who is recovering from a recent heart attack, we would begin with low-intensity aerobic exercises and gradually increase intensity, volume or duration as you progress and under the approval of your exercise specialist.
• Monitoring – Ongoing assessments ensure that the patient is progressing as expected and adjustments are made when necessary. Monitoring can include tracking heart rate, blood pressure, mobility, and other health markers to ensure safety and effectiveness.
• Progression – As you improve, the intensity and types of exercises are adjusted to keep challenging your body and promoting further health gains.

Common Types of Exercises in Clinical Prescription

The types of exercises we might include in your clinical exercise program depend entirely on your condition and goals. However, some of the common exercises we’d include would be:

• Aerobic cardiovascular exercise 
• Resistance training
• Flexibility and stretching 
• Mobility exercises
• Low-impact aerobic exercise
• Coordination exercises
• Cognitive function exercises
• Strength training
• Breathing exercises
• Balance and stability exercises
• Proprioception exercises
• Walking gait exercises

Why choose a clinical exercise physiologist?

Working with a clinical exercise physiologist ensures that your exercise plan is not only tailored to your specific needs but also grounded in medical expertise. Our team are trained to understand how different health conditions affect the body’s response to physical activity. We monitor your progress closely, adjusting your program as needed to ensure continuous improvement while reducing the risk of injury or complications. By working with us, you receive personalised, evidence-based exercise prescriptions that promote an ‘exercise is medicine’ approach and place a large emphasis on improving physical, mental, and social well-being. 

Work with us at Longevity Health and Fitness 

At Longevity Health & Fitness, we deliver our clinical exercise services as home visit appointments across London, Surrey and surrounding areas. They can also be delivered online as remote appointments and we have helped clients all over the UK, Europe, Asia and America. 

Our team of 15+ expert trainers are highly skilled in creating personalised, patient-centred clinical exercise programs for anyone managing chronic conditions, illnesses, or recovering from injuries. Our goal is to help you manage symptoms, prevent your condition from worsening, and enhance your overall health and well-being. So if you’d like to discuss either your or a family member’s condition with us and how we can help you, click here to contact us about clinical exercise and our range of services.