When talking to clients about their physio program, I often hear ‘yes I have exercises to do but I don’t always have the time’, or ‘I do them for a while and then forget about them’. And this information is sometimes shared sheepishly with the knowing that they should be more committed.
When I have been given a range of physio therapy exercises to rehabilitate different muscle groups, I have done the exercises with varying levels of motivation and success.
So how do we stay motivated to do our physiotherapy exercises?
1. Start with your why.
Take a few moments to think about why is it important for you to do your exercises. Do you want to be able to go walking in the morning again because it makes you feel more ready for the day, or to go for that run, to swing that tennis racket, or to get out of bed more easily? Connect to your why and make that your focus.
2. Speak to your physio if something in your program is not working for you.
A client shared with me that one reason she was not doing her program, is she could not quite work out one of the exercises. I encouraged her to talk to her physio and he gave her another exercise and now she is doing the whole program with more ease.
On one of my own physio programs, the exercises had increased and the time it took to do the whole program was 30 minutes. So, I talked to my physio and said can we achieve what we need to do and keep the exercises to 20 minutes max. Yes, was the answer and we increased the strength so less repetitions were needed. We also tailored the program to 3 times per week so I chose Monday, Wednesday and Friday to be my physio exercise days and I set my alarm 20 minutes earlier those days to make it happen.
3. Make incidental exercise part of your day.
One client builds her squats into her day when she is waiting for the printer at work, or when she is waiting for the kettle to boil at home. You can keep the motivation up when you take these moments across your day to stretch and strengthen your body.
4. No giving yourself a hard time, keep it really simple.
Approach your program like a scientist. 'If I do this program, I notice this result in my body' and 'If I don’t do this program, I notice this result'. Simple, no beating yourself up, no telling yourself you can’t make this happen or whatever the words in your head are. Observe the results, if they are not the results you want, connect to your why to motivate you to achieve a different result. As ultimately, you are the one in the driver’s seat
Comments