Are you a bad Physio if you use 3x10 Reps?

This is an area of exercise prescription that has grown its own legs in physiotherapy practice. There are some physios and S&C coaches that unfortunately are very quick to pour scorn on therapists that use 3 x 10 reps in clinical practice.

So, why the controversy in physiotherapy and rehabilitation about the use of 3 x 10 Reps? Indeed, today if you prescribe 3 x 10 reps in a physiotherapy department you are likely to be the butt of many jokes and labelled a dinosaur because you are behind the times. But does this position really stand up to the scrutiny of common sense?

Firstly, if 3 x 10 repetitions is good enough for an un-injured general public to improve various markers of muscle fitness, why would it not provide enough of an anabolic stimulus for a physiotherapy / rehabilitation patient. Indeed, for the patient with a musculoskeletal injury it could be argued that a lower intensity of load might be more advantageous.

So, in this short video I will set straight some of these issues and provide a sensible road map for using 3x10 reps in clinical practice.