Physical rehabilitation training is a multidisciplinary field that uses physical training methods as a means to resolve and rehabilitate motor dysfunction of the body.  Some people also refer to physical rehabilitation training as rehabilitative physical training.  Since rehabilitation physical training itself is a special form of highly targeted recovery sports training, it can also be understood as physical training of body motor function, which is also known as functional training.  However, none of these names is like the name physical rehabilitation training, which emphasizes more the relationship between physical training and the rehabilitation concept.  Physical rehabilitation training is a relatively new concept and methodology, and its emergence and development is mainly evolved based on China’s national system.  It is a comprehensive discipline.  Looking at the professional classification worldwide, the professions related to physical rehabilitation training are fitness coach, sports protection specialist, and sports rehabilitation specialist.  

 

1. The position of a physical rehabilitation trainer
 
A physical rehabilitation trainer is a recovery specialist, who is not only required to have solid sports training knowledge and skills, but also to have mastered to some extent the concepts and methods of sports rehabilitation.  Through methods of physical training, they restore athletes’ body motor functions, improve their athletic quality levels, and ensure the athletes’ abilities for proper systematic sports training.  The function of a physical rehabilitation trainer is to be like a bridge between a coach and a doctor, who assists coaches, doctors and researchers to ensure the injured athletes’ functional recovery, and to prevent sports injuries.  

2. Scope of work of physical rehabilitation training
 
The purport of a sports team is to raise athletes’ athletic levels through systematic sports training, and ultimately to reach the goal of improving their performance.  This means that athletes must spend most of their time concentrating on sports training.  However, both physical and rehabilitation training require time, and the contents and work site must be integrated into their daily training and competition routines as must as possible.  Hence, the entry point of physical rehabilitation training has the five following aspects:
 
       A. Preparatory activities: to carry out preparatory activities prior to training is an effective way to increase targeted training content for injury prevention.  In addition, appropriately increasing the strength of preparatory activities can also effectively activate the muscle groups of the injuries, so that it enhances the stability of the joints and reduces dysfunctional problems during training.  Under normal circumstances, for injured athletes, in addition to participating in the team’s collective preparatory activities, they should have at least 5-10 minutes of personalized preparatory activities.  The purpose of preparatory activities is to achieve the result of comprehensive warm-up, and in the meantime, the injured areas should also be able to participate in training properly, and to aggravate the degree of pain as little as possible.  

B. Special event training: A physical rehabilitation trainer should understand the functional status of injured areas of athletes during the daily sports training more than other team members, communicate with coaches and doctors at any time on special training loads and requirements of technical execution, and try to avoid having the athletes participate in certain types of sports training too early or too much, since this might cause repeated injury.  A physical rehabilitation trainer participates in the whole process of sports training and carefully observes athletes’ physical conditions and technical changes during training.  This requires the trainer to have a full understanding of the sports techniques and training methods of this event, and to be able to communicate effectively and work together with the coach from the perspective of sports training, and to make the most reasonable arrangements.  

       
C. Physical rehabilitation training class: except for special event training, based on different training cycles, many sports teams arrange physical rehabilitation training classes 2-4 times a week, and the physical rehabilitation specialists are able to assume some or even all contents of team members’ physical or rehabilitation training.  Because the primary restoration means of rehabilitation is personalized fitness training, based on a doctor’s medical diagnosis and recommendations, a physical rehabilitation specialist must once again be able to conduct a comprehensive functional examination to analyze and identify the internal and external causes of the injuries, prescribe an appropriate sports program together with coaches and athletes, and finally monitor and enforce the plan.  

D. Cool-down activities: a cool-down activity after a special event or physical training is a good time for a physical rehabilitation trainer to get involved.  The best time to reduce an athlete’s physical fatigue and control inflammation of his injuries is often at the end of the training.  A physical rehabilitation specialist can guide athletes for relaxation exercise after training, such as aerobic jogging, stretching, icing, water therapy, massage and other activities to relax and recover.  Many sports teams and athletes pay little attention to post-training cool-down activities; therefore, rehabilitation specialists can actively intervene and assist coaches and doctors with one on one or one on many cool-down activities.  Facts have proven that the teams and the athletes who pay attention to cool-down activities tend to reduce greatly the pressure of medical treatment after training, and also effectively reduce the incidence of injuries.
 

E. Treatment and injury prevention through assisting doctors: because a physical rehabilitation trainer has certain rehabilitation knowledge and abilities (such as stretching, massage and sports therapy), he can assist the doctor with relaxation therapy.  In terms of job content, he should follow the doctor’s diagnosis and advice, and must not exceed the scope of his work.  When an athlete requests something that is outside the scope of a physical rehabilitation trainer’s job or expertise, he should promptly forward it to relevant professionals to deal with.  
 

Tips: why combine physical agility with rehabilitation?
 
During sports training, the biggest problem of physical training is personalized injuries; coaches often do not know whether to continue training or increase intensity.  A coach does not necessarily understand medicine, and a doctor does not necessarily understand training.  If the two cannot communicate well, it often results in a blind spot.  The proposed integration of “training, science and medicine” is to create a composite team out of this consideration.  Communication within team members often encounters difficulties due to different positions and professional points of view, causing obstruction in both communication and execution.  However, a physical rehabilitation trainer is a versatile professional intermediary between these two, who can play two roles for the team.  In the meantime, he can play a significant role in coordination and communication.