People have odd priorities. We all accept having to upgrade our phones, computers or cars, but it can be much harder to convince someone to give the same attention to their physical health. Your body, the one thing guaranteed to be with you your whole life, should be at the top of your list.
But I don’t think it’s just down to negligence, there’s also a lack of options for people to get a clear snapshot of their physical fitness. It’s easy to find a garage if your car needs a check up, but where do you go for your body?
We came up with an answer: our new Physical MOT.
The Physical MOT is a complete assessment of your physical health. In an hour session, we’ll look at your joints, strength, balance, agility and cardiovascular fitness. Then we’ll tell you which are normal, better than normal or need to improve and give you easy to understand and realistic advice on how to work on problem areas.
Why create the Physical MOT?
Most of the injuries we see fall into one of two groups.
First, there’s acute injuries, where you’ve fallen the wrong way or twisted something out of place, causing immediate pain and loss of movement.
The other type of injuries are the ones that have developed gradually, starting with slight pain that becomes more severe over time. At some point, you reach the limits of what you can bear and you see us. What comes as a shock is that by the time you started feeling pain, there had already been an underlying problem for months, if not years. The longer you’ve been damaging yourself, the longer it takes to heal.
Our Physical MOT is here to catch those problems before they turn into something nasty, the same way a medical check up can tell you how high your blood pressure is or whether you need to reduce your cholesterol – and like high cholesterol, you won’t feel the symptoms of poor fitness until it’s causing problems.
Who is the Physical MOT for?
The Physical MOT is available to anyone who wants a detailed, impartial assessment of their physical health and guidance on how to improve problem areas.
That said, I believe it’s particularly important for people 40 and over to take their fitness seriously. It’s around this age that daily wear and tear outstrips the body’s ability to heal – known, more simply, as ageing.
But just because you’re getting older doesn’t mean you can’t get fitter. You can – as many of our clients prove – be stronger and more flexible when you’re 50 than when you were 30. It may take more work but in return you get to enjoy life more than ever and fortify your body against the challenges of ageing.
On the other hand, if you ignore those niggling issues, they can easily snowball into debilitating conditions.
You start feeling sore, so you avoid activity. Your body weakens, then you fall over. You break something, then have to recover. It hurts to move, so you avoid activity. Your body weakens…
Instead of accepting this cycle as a normal part of getting old, you can gain the strength to keep moving and playing and living to the full, or discover new things that you didn’t even know your body was capable of.
How can I book a Physical MOT?
The Physical MOT costs £130.00 and takes one hour. You can book yours now by calling 0207 937 1628 or emailing info@westlondonphysio.co.uk
After all the years your body has given you, why not give it something back.
Clinical Director, West London Physiotherapy
For any other questions regarding this topic please do not hesitate to contact West London Physio on 0207 937 1628 or email me at cameron@westlondonphysio.co.uk