How To Make Best Use Of Your Exercise Library
Your exercises are a key part of your treatment plan and play an important role in helping you get back to doing the things you love and need to do.
They will vary and will depend on where you are in your treatment plan and what you need most at that time.
Your exercises will challenge you in different ways as you go through your treatment plan in order to expose your body to new levels of tension and stress in a gradual and safe way.
This is called graded and it allows your body to adapt and build strength, resilience and confidence in your movement.
Graded Exposure – Safely Increasing The Load On Your Body
Frequently Asked Questions
1:How often should you do them?
Think ‘little and often’. Short 2 – 3 minutes chunks of the exercises done a few times per day is ideal.
I’d much prefer you to do 1 minute of an exercise 2- 3 times in a day, compared to 3 minutes of an exercise once a day.
The reason for this is because we want to help your nervous system feel safe tolerating tension throughout the day so it adapts and helps you move with less pain and restriction,
Of course, this may not always be achievable, but try to them twice a day if possible. A few minutes in the morning and evening would be good.
2- Should They Painful To Do?
Ideally no. The old saying of ‘no pain no gain’ shouldn’t apply in the early when it comes to rehab exercises.
However, saying that. your exercises need to be challenging anf they need to focus your attention, otherwise they won’t have the desired effect.
3: Do I need to do all my exercises, including the old ones, as I go through my treatment plan?
No. after each treatment session you will be shown and then sent the exercises to work on that week. This means you only have to focus on the exercises for that week unless told otherwise.
Now , if there are some exercises from the previous treatment sessions that you find beneficial and you want to continue doing them that is fine.
But remember, the aim of an exercise is to get you from one stage of your treatment plan to the next. They need to challenge you in some way and they need to be moving forward towards your ideal outcome.
Tips To Help Fit Your Exercises Into Your Day
1. Do them first thing in the morning.
The morning time is a great time to get your exerises in for a few reasons.
1. It can set you up well for the day
2. There can be less distractions and you can be in control of what you do.
3. If you get your movements done in the morning, every time you do them later that day will be an added bonus.
2. : Do them after an existing habit you already do every day.
Most people will have at least cups or tea/coffee every day. Why not do 2 minutes of your exercises after you finsh each of these drinks.
There are plenty of things that we do everyday that we could do 1-2 minutes of an exercise afterwards.
For example:
Going to the toilet,
Getting into or out of the car,
Hanging up your jacket,
Dropping or picking up the kids from school.
Pick a habit that you do every day and say to yourself ‘I am going to 1 minute of an exercise everytime I do X’
Lastly
Please don’t think of your exercises as a ‘chore’. Instead, think of them as a way to help you to do your daily tasks or exercise with greater ease and less pain.
Some people can panic a little when they have a busy week and don’t get enough of their exercises done before their next appointment.
However, don’t worry if this hapens to you. Life will get in the way and you will more than likely have a week like this too.
It is important that you do still attend your follow up session so that you keep on track and keep progressing towards your end goal.
Do you have any other questions
If so, please send them to us in the form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can