Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Methodological Foundations of Therapeutic Exercise
Other languages of instruction: English, Spanish,
Teaching staff
Introduction
‘Methodological foundations of therapeutic exercise’ is a newly introduced subject in the new curriculum starting in the academic year 2024-25. Therapeutic exercise tries to integrate the performance of exercise, often not related to the profession of physiotherapy, with the concept of therapy and, therefore, of pathology, injury and/or illness. Despite not being a ‘traditional’ subject in physiotherapy degree curricula, the study of this concept leads us to relate it to ‘therapeutic gymnastics’, ‘active therapy’ and ‘rehabilitation exercise’, among other terms. The raison to introduce this subject within the physiotherapy plan is due to the great increase of scientific works that lead us to consider exercise as one of the most contrasted methodologies to prevent and improve the health of people who have or may present some kind of affection.
The course is divided into a theoretical part and a practical part. The theoretical part aims to introduce the student to the knowledge of the bases that support the field of therapeutic exercise. With this intention, an introductory theme is developed, an analysis of the risk factors of suffering illnesses and injuries, and a tour of the different physical qualities that have a greater relevance in relation to health. This block ends with a thematic block dedicated to introducing students to the planning and programming of therapeutic exercise. This is followed by the practical content of the subject, where the different topics are developed, focusing on the methodology and the application of the work of the different physical qualities covered in the theoretical framework.
Pre-course requirements
No prerequisites.
Syllabus
Issue 1. Background information on therapeutic exercise. Classifications of physical qualities.
Issue 2. Risk factors for injury. Assessments in the therapeutic process. Mechanical characteristics of tissues.
Issue 3. Neuromuscular control: objective of therapeutic exercise.
Issue 4. Strength as the basis of physical qualities.
Issue 5. Resistance of the cardiovascular and respiratory system and the musculoskeletal system.
Issue 6. Range of movement.
Issue 7. Balance and reaction capacities.
Issue 8. Neuromuscular coordination.
Isseu 9. Planning therapeutic exercise.
Issue 10 Practical application 1. Strength training by means of muscle analytical actions as the origin of tissue adaptations from therapeutic exercise.
o Application to the pelvic girdle musculature.
o Application to the musculature of the shoulder girdle.
o Application to the trunk musculature: origin of body stability.
Issue 11. Practical application 2. The range of movement and its relationship with the development of strength. Muscle chain work from the myofascial training point of view.
Issue 12. Functional strength training: active stabilisation as a fundamental objective.
Issue 13. Practical application 4. Therapeutic training of balance and reaction capacity.
o Orientation to the first phases of the joint work of balance and reaction capacity.
o Involvement of the vestibular - visual - proprioceptive systems (VVP concept).
o The introduction of perturbations for balance and reaction work.
Issue 14. Practical application 5. Cardiovascular endurance training.
o Orientation to the first post-injury phases. Involvement of actions not directly related to the injury.
o Practical application of the methodology of the different manifestations of the cardiovascular and respiratory resistance.
Neuromuscular control: progression in the first post-injury phases and in injury prevention.
Issue 16. Practical application 7. Introduction of neuromuscular coordination in a therapeutic process.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
1st call:
- 35% of the mark: this will consist of different continuous assessment tests, which will be carried out during the course (both in theory and practical classes). No minimum mark will be required in order to be able to average with the rest of the marks.
- 65% of the grade. During the exam week there will be a multiple-choice test of 50 questions with 4 possible answers and only one correct answer. Each incorrect answer will deduct 0.33 points. A minimum grade of 4.5 is required to be averaged with the other grades.
2nd call:
There will be a single multiple-choice exam of 50 questions with 4 possible answers and only one correct answer. Each incorrect answer will deduct 0.33 points. It will be necessary to obtain a minimum mark of 5 to be able to average with the rest of the marks.
Evaluation period
- E1 29/01/2025 A16 08:00h
- E1 29/01/2025 A15 08:00h
- E2 30/06/2025 A16 08:00h