When you walk into a gym or a clinic for the first time the amount of equipment there may be overwhelming. From the machines to the free weights and all of those other bits and pieces lying around, your first thought may be what torture can they put me through with all these objects. I’m here to explain what all of those items are used for and how they can be used appropriately for your rehabilitation.

When you are starting out your rehabilitation journey, the level you are entering at will dictate what equipment will be best for you. Most of the time you won’t need much to start. This may include machine-based work, the use of Therabands or even bodyweight alone.

Machines are a great place to start as there is only one plane of movement most of the time, which allows minimal room for technique errors and allows you to focus on the movement and muscle activation. Machines generally allow the isolation of body parts which means you can target a specific region without having other muscles utilised in the movement. They are also a god starting place if loading the injured joint or standing work isn’t an option as it allows us to reduce the resistance and is non-weight baring.

Bodyweight exercises are a good progression from machine work or a way to compliment machine-based exercises as they add more functional movements. When and how these are utilised in your sessions will depend on what the goal of the treatment is. With bodyweight exercises it adds a layer of difficulty because more muscles are now utilised as stabilisers and there are multiple planes of motion.

Therabands are a great tool to control bodyweight movements or add an element of difficulty to certain exercises. It adds resistance in not only the main movement but also on the way back to neutral or the eccentric movement.