Dr. Vivek Vats

Dr. Vivek Vats holds a BPT and an MPT with a specialisation in Sports, and practises in sports physiotherapy and movement rehabilitation at Physio Fit 360.

Sports physiotherapy considers the relationship between the demands a person places on their body and the capacity that body currently has. Many problems in active populations arise not from a single event but from a mismatch between the two — a training volume increased too quickly, a return to activity after time away, or a demand that exceeds current conditioning.

Movement rehabilitation addresses this by rebuilding capacity in a structured way. That means restoring mobility where it is limited, developing strength and muscular endurance so effort can be sustained, and progressing activity in increments the body can adapt to. Conditioning is a genuine part of rehabilitation in this field, not an optional extra, because tolerance to repeated effort is often what determines whether a return to activity holds.

Functional recovery and performance support describe the outcomes: being able to train, play or work physically with reasonable comfort and consistency. Within the Physio Fit 360 team, Dr. Vivek's stated focus lies in this sports and movement rehabilitation area.

Rehabilitation in sports physiotherapy typically begins by establishing what a person can currently tolerate. This includes available range in the relevant joints, strength through functional ranges, and how the region responds to a given amount of loading — information that sets a sensible starting point rather than an optimistic one.

Load management follows from that baseline. Activity is increased gradually so that muscle, tendon and general conditioning can adapt, and the response to each increase is monitored. Rapid jumps in training volume are one of the more common reasons a recovery is interrupted, which makes pacing a clinical skill in its own right.

Muscular endurance deserves particular attention in this field. Strength measured when fresh does not always reflect what a person can maintain late in a training session or a match, and movement quality frequently deteriorates as fatigue accumulates. Rehabilitation therefore often includes work at higher repetitions and longer durations, not only heavier loads.

Mobility work supports these gains where restricted range is limiting a movement, and movement rehabilitation ensures the patterns being loaded are performed well. As tolerance builds, more demanding elements are reintroduced — running volume, intensity, and eventually the specific patterns of the sport or activity.

Return-to-activity progression is criteria-based, considering strength, endurance, movement quality and how the region responds to accumulated load over days rather than a single session. Performance support then focuses on maintaining conditioning so that regular training stays within tolerable limits. Individual results vary and cannot be guaranteed.

Goals in this area of sports physiotherapy are generally structured around building tolerance. Early on, the aim is usually to maintain what movement and general conditioning are available while the affected region settles, so that overall fitness does not decline unnecessarily.

As the region tolerates more, goals move to restoring range where it is limited and rebuilding strength through the ranges the activity requires. Muscular endurance becomes a distinct goal here, since sustaining effort is often what a return to training actually demands.

Later goals concern the activity itself: progressively increasing running volume or training intensity, maintaining movement quality as fatigue accumulates, and completing sport-specific sessions with an acceptable response afterwards. Confidence in loading the region is part of this stage.

Ongoing goals typically include maintaining conditioning and managing training load sensibly over time. Timelines differ considerably between individuals depending on the underlying problem, consistency and other health factors, and rehabilitation cannot guarantee a specific outcome or prevent recurrence.

The principles guiding this work start with an honest baseline. Establishing what a person can currently tolerate — rather than what they would like to manage — makes progression more predictable and reduces avoidable setbacks.

Progression is incremental and monitored. Small, regular increases in load and volume allow adaptation, and response is judged over several days rather than within a single session, since delayed reactions are common when conditioning is being rebuilt.

Education and participation carry much of the plan. Understanding how to pace training, what an acceptable response feels like and when to hold a level rather than advance gives the individual practical control over their own progression between appointments.

Consistency is emphasised over intensity, and plans are reviewed as capacity changes. Expectations are set realistically: rehabilitation supports a return to activity and better conditioning, but timelines and results vary from person to person.

Working inside a multidisciplinary physiotherapy clinic means a patient is never limited to a single perspective. At Physio Fit 360, physiotherapists with different areas of specialisation — manual therapy, sports rehabilitation, orthopaedic care, neurological rehabilitation and general physiotherapy — practise under one roof in Sector 22B, Chandigarh. That shared environment makes it easier to match a person with the clinician whose focus best fits their rehabilitation needs, and to discuss a case collaboratively when a recovery journey touches more than one area. It also supports continuity: assessment, progression and review happen in the same place, with the same standards of care and communication. For patients, the practical benefit is straightforward — specialised attention within a team that understands rehabilitation as a shared, structured process rather than a series of isolated appointments.