Last year I launched a specialist service at Summertown Clinic called Osteopathic Exercise Therapy. This unique service combines over 15 years of academic and practical experience working with recreational and elite athletes from around the world, applying exercise in a clinical setting under the tutelage of world authorities in exercise medicine, together with knowledge from diverse areas of practice including sport and exercise medicine. strength and conditioning practice, pain and injury science, nutritional and lifestyle medicine, and cognitive-behavioural therapy.
Why I started this service?
Throughout my career, I have frequently encountered individuals who have failed to reach their health goals, despite regularly ‘exercising’. These goals include:
• Weight loss
• Prevention and management of pain and injury
• Management of systemic illness (eg: reversing the complications associated with heart disease, diabetes, or cancer)
Linked to this are a number of unhelpful views associated with exercise including that running is bad for the back and knees, and the only way to ‘get fit’ is to join a gym. Not only are these ideas scientifically unsubstantiated, I believe they act as a deterrent to health promotion.
It is through these encounters that I became aware of the general and specific exercise needs of the community. This information became my driving force to start a service, that fundamentally provides individuals with more mature explanations, realistic expectations associated with exercise, more efficient solutions, and ultimately realise the remarkable potential of exercise prescription. .
How is Osteopathic Exercise Therapy different?
Osteopathic Exercise Therapy is unique in that it places a central premium on:
• Developing a wide range of physical skills. That is, it is not focused on a part of the body (e.g the core core exercise) or limited to sole discipline. Osteopathic Exercise Therapy aims to help you develop a number of concurrent physical skills such as strength, flexibility and stamina using whole body, but appropriately scaled exercises.
• Your medical and injury history, skill level, familiarity with exercise and physical aspirations
• Your health and physical goals, and you social and environmental context
Since, its conception, I have worked with a number of individuals to help combat persistent aches and pain, prevent injury, prepare for specific named events (triathlons) as well as reverse and manage the complications associated with heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
If you have any questions about this service, please feel free to email me on
andrewnicholettos@summertownclinic.co.uk
To book an appointment with Andrew please ring our friendly receptionists on 01865 558561 or book online here.
