How To Fit In Your Rehab Exercises At Home

We cannot rely on hands-on treatment alone to put a stop to your pain once and for all.
It is vital to keep on top of physio exercises each week as you progress through a plan to see results.

With this being said we understand that sometimes it can be difficult to adhere to the exercise plan. Some research (1) suggests up to 70% of clients have difficulty with adherence to a rehab program.

So if you’re going to commit to a program, is it good to know how you can optimise the exercises to reach your desired outcome.

Today, we’ll get to grips with the common issues that reduce adherence to a treatment plan and what you can do to ensure you see the results YOU want.

Why People Might Have Difficulty Doing Exercises From Home

At ProSport we understand that sometimes life can just get in the way of being able to follow through with your rehab. This is the leading reason for not being able to keep up with exercises.

The hard truth is, if you don’t do the exercises you will not see the results. I will later explain why this is the case but first, let’s keep looking at why you might find it difficult to fit exercise in.

If you have a busy lifestyle then it may be difficult to find the time, we do understand this at ProSport so we have found ways to overcome these problems.

Secondly, If you are someone looking for a quick fix and aren’t dedicated to a plan then your motivation levels are going to be low. As a result you will not want to dedicate the time. At ProSport, we DO NOT provide a quick fix. We will only work with people that are truly motivated to see long term results and stay pain free.

If your exercises do not relate to the movements you are doing every day, you HAVE to find separate time to be able to do this. For the everyday person this may not be possible. For example, if you are given a squat or clam exercise (something you wouldn’t normally do) then it can almost feel like a chore and you will have to make time to do it.

Sometimes you may not fully understand why your body is in pain. You might not know the route cause of the problem therefore you do not understand why you are doing the exercises in the first place.

Changes don’t happen overnight! So if you aren’t seeing results straight away and you don’t know why you are doing the exercise it can be difficult to stick to a plan.

Why You Can’t Rely On Hands-On Treatment Alone

Pain is often a result of muscles having to work harder than normal. The cause for this is often muscles in other areas not tolerating enough load.

As mentioned above you will not see results without doing your prescribed exercises. The exercises are key to strengthening areas that have been identified as not working hard enough, therefore hands-on treatment alone will not get these areas working.

Yes hands on can help to identify areas that need working on, but you will not see results with this alone. If this is something that you rely on to see results then ProSport is NOT the right option for you.

At ProSport physiotherapy we use hands-on treatment to relax or get muscles working harder. The external load placed on the muscle allows the nervous system to allow the muscle to work without the hands on. This is why it might be easier doing certain exercises after the hands on work.

HOWEVER…

These results are only short lived, and in a matter of hours, your muscles will be back to working the way they find easiest.

Therefore it is vital to continue with exercises your therapist has given, to encourage efficient movement and prevent the pain returning.

How We Ensure That You Can Fit Your Exercises In

ProSport has an unique approach to physiotherapy. We ensure that the exercises are specific to the things you need to be able to do. They are also given in a step-by-step system to reduce pain and prevent flare ups.

Our exercises are designed to target areas that need strengthening, whilst at the same time getting muscles that are working too hard to relax. They are specific to common day to day movements that YOU need and want to be able to do.

A clam exercise might be great at strengthening the glute muscles, BUT… when do you do a movement during the day that might replicate a clam? Probably never right?

Our exercises replicate your day to day movements to get you pain free doing the things you love. This means that you do not have to go out of your way to do them. Instead you do the exercise when you are doing the movement during the day with no extra effort.

For example, we will use a slouch to the floor as an exercise. You can then apply it when tying shoe laces, putting the washing in the washing machine or going to pick something up from the floor.

This way the more you do these movements the less your brain will have to think about it and over time you will start moving more efficiently.

Our main focus is to ensure that you know exactly why your body is in pain. With each exercise, we will explain what it is doing and why this is important to hit your milestone in your plan.

In each session we will recap the progress that you have made and what the next step is. This is important to ensure that you know exactly why you are doing the exercises therefore you are more likely to want to do them.

Other Ways To Implement Your Rehab

You don’t need to do ALL of your exercises in one go, We actually recommend that you do these little and often. This takes the pressure off you doing hours of endless movements when you probably have a lot to be getting on with.

We also try to give your exercises a trigger. What we mean by this is, think of a time when you do something everyday like brushing your teeth, putting the kettle on. Every time you do this you do your exercise, or everytime you make a coffee or get in and out of your car. It normally takes 30 seconds to 1 minute to do your exercise, so it is only a small chunk of your day.

It doesn’t have to be grueling. You’ll see results with just a little effort.

Make Your Rehab As Simple As Possible

I hope you can see now just why most people give up on their rehab exercises. And this may have been you. Too busy, too stressed, and too exhausted to spend hours performing endless exercises.

See, if this was you, it isn’t your fault. The approach that most physios take is flawed. They can’t expect you to put your life on hold to perform an exercise. That’s why we don’t ask you to.

All we ask for is a little commitment and a little effort and we’ll make it as simple as possible for you to get and stay pain free.

Maybe the problem is stopping your running. Maybe you’re no longer able to sleep or pick up your kids without pain. Whatever it is, you do not need to suffer. We want to help.

If you have any more questions or are looking to book a free assessment simply click here or call 01484 443173 and our team would be more than happy to help.

References:

1: (Beinart, N.A., Goodchild, C.E., Weinman, J.A., Ayis, S., Godfrey, E.L. (2013). Individual and intervention-related factors associated with adherence to home exercise in chronic low back pain: a systematic review. Spine J. Dec,13(12),1940-50. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2013.08.027.)