Building a strong and healthy body

Do you ever feel like your body just doesn’t move the way it used to? Maybe you are not bouncing up those stairs anymore, or getting up from the floor feels awkward. Maybe you are not as steady on your feet when reaching for something high as you used to be. Perhaps lifting heavy shopping bags, kneeling to play with your pets, grandkids, reaching under the sofa, or getting into your 4WD for that camping trip has become harder than it used to be. Or are you avoiding getting down on the floor altogether as you are not sure if you will be able to get up again.

Changes like these often creep up slowly — a gradual loss of muscle strength, not walking as far as you used to, slightly more stiffness in the joints, or simply less confidence in your body’s ability to move freely and safely.  This is where our program comes in.

Building a strong and healthy body is not about looking slim, buff or fit, nor is it about perfection. It is all about that inner strength, body resilience and confidence to be able to do all the things you need to do in life.
We focus on something that is called functional fitness— training your body to handle real-life movements like getting on and off the floor, lifting, bending, reaching, twisting, pushing, pulling, and balancing. We train also your body to be able to walk longer, whether that is in the shopping centre, out on the esplanade, the beach or in the mountains and to get up those stairs easier.

We don’t really mind what level you are. Whether you are recovering from an illness, have lost lots of muscle power over the years or when you just are starting to feel that you are not as quick anymore to get up from a squat or the floor. This program is for everyone, and each program is made specifically and only for you.

At Stratford Health Hub, we to start you in this program, you will see.

• Joyce, our physiotherapist will start with a very thorough assessment of your muscle strength, joint health, posture, pain points, and daily movement patterns. She will identify areas that need to be worked on the most and make a plan with you. If joint pain or restrictions in movement are in the way of exercising effectively, Joyce can help you with that too.
• Joel, our exercise physiologist will assess your current exercise capacity, functional mobility and physical conditioning . He will then develop a training program based on his assessment and Joyce’s plan and then he gets you started. Some things you may need to do with us and other things you may need to do yourself at home. Joel will guide you through all these exercises to make sure they are the right level for you and when he is confident that you are doing them correctly, he will add you to his classes – click here for class timetable.