One of the things that set us aside as an EP company, is our unwavering dedication to specificity in the return-to-work space.

We understand that,

To get better at drawing, you need to draw more…
To get better at baking cakes, you need to bake cakes more…
To get better at lifting pallets over your head, well, you need to lift awkward objects over your head more!

For this reason, when it comes to exercise prescription, we focus on specificity (and creativity!) to match the EP program to the exact movements required for the job. As complicated as that sounds – it really is simple.

Why Is It So Important?

Prescribing exercises in this way not only makes for better efficiency in the individuals return to work process, but it also allows us to:

1. Provide case managers, rehab providers, and other people on the case with applicable and accurate updates on the client’s work capacity at all stages throughout their program.

After all, if we told you “this client can ride a bike for 20 minutes continuously” what insight does that really provide for a builder’s readiness to return to their daily lifting and carrying requirements?

Instead, we might tell you, “this client can now carry 20kg objects in both hands for up to 40 meters,” or “this client is able to lift a 10kg weight above their head 20 times in 2 minutes”.

We talk about this more in our article – Alert! Demand for functional information reaches an all-time high!

2. Identify, ahead of time, any issues or limitations that may arise in relation to their work tasks, so we can work on these specifically.

How will we know if a client can put tires on a large truck if we haven’t been practicing those movements? That could be perhaps… A combination of a pallof press, rotation, commando roll, and 10 reps of internal rotation… You get the idea!

What The Job Requires = What We Prescribe

When it comes to returning to a physical role after an injury, we need to improve that individual’s ability to do those exact movements when they return to work. So much so, that if you looked at one of our programs without knowing what the client does for a living – you may even be able to guess!

In fact… Why don’t we give that a go?

Below, you’ll find three jobs along with three exercises our EPs have assigned to real cases in the last few months – can you guess what exercise goes with what job??