Wellness techniques have been used for centuries to optimize physical health and slow down the degenerative effects of aging.

But the term wellness can refer to a broad scope of meanings and interpretations varying widely between individuals and organizations around the world.

So what is wellness, really?

Wellness can be broadly defined as the state of being or living in good health and consists of the following components:

• Emotional
• Environmental
• Intellectual
• Physical
• Social
• Spiritual

Our focus (and passion) at Health Industry Designs is the physical wellness component in your life. That doesn’t mean we don’t believe in the importance of the other aspects of wellness, only that we’ve dedicated our lives to helping people safeguard their physical health. We love helping people of any age maintain optimum health, recover from injuries, rebound after surgery, get fit and even pursue peak athletic performance.

Physical wellness is a personal journey

Yes, physical wellness is deeply personal and can certainly be a DIY affair.

Many people are quite successful at designing and performing their own exercise regimen. They are self-motivated and often lead a structured and disciplined lifestyle. Some may have been competitive athletes and know their bodies well, especially how they respond to the different stresses of training.

Individuals without family responsibilities and heavy career commitments can also invest time and energy on physical wellness with greater ease. Adults in their 20's and early 30's often find it the easiest since their body's are more resilient and more responsive to the benefits of exercise. At that age, they’re not yet burdened with the wear and tear, or the aches and pains that accompany the aging process.

Individuals, however, start to experience greater challenges in their late 30’s, 40's and 50's when the responsibilities of life claim a higher percentage of their time and energy, and a sedentary life becomes the reality for many people. This is also the time when our bodies begin to play cruel tricks on both our physical performance and image. Although the exact age of impact can be different for everyone, this is the age when pursuing an intelligent and medically-sound physical wellness program can help keep your fire burning for decades to come. The alternative is a bumpy road full of all-too-common pitfalls like obesity, disease and a host of physical ailments.

So what does a physical wellness program consist of and how does it compare to creating and doing my own exercises?

The structure of a well-designed exercise program helps to directly address the unique needs of each individual. Doing generic exercises is a good start for many but some people have issues with their physical conditioning, prior nagging or recurrent injuries, and even motivation challenges.

In addition, people who have lived a competitively active lifestyle may also be experiencing physical challenges and more frequently recurring injuries. This could motivate them to seek a customized program with ongoing coaching and intervention from therapeutic and exercise experts. These people will benefit greatly from a customized physical wellness program to achieve and sustain their goals.

Having an expert eye evaluate your situation and review the results of an evidence-based wellness assessment can not be properly reproduced by a simple software program or application. Things like how to modify a squat technique for someone with a history of herniated disc or how to strengthen the quadriceps for someone with a history of knee tendinitis are challenges that can't properly be addressed using a generic routine.

And how do you visually assess running technique and determine if your stride length and hip levels are symmetrically balanced if you only train yourself? Daily exercise regimens that are customized to the individual's current physical levels, while accounting for prior physical muscle and joint issues, are the best way to stay on track and avoid injury, performance plateaus, or weight goal set backs. Also, a managed program helps maintain accountability while providing the dynamics of regimen progression to keep things challenging.

In short, no matter what your age, personal needs, or goals—it pays to have a physical wellness expert in your corner to guide you towards that joie de vivre that being physically healthy and strong can bring.