No Excuse Rehab
My ethos is to give my clients a realistic and achievable rehabilitation program. In the past I’ve come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid doing my rehab and I’m pretty sure you have too. Here’s some of mine:
- I can’t be bothered to change clothes.
- I can’t be bothered to get the equipment out.
- I have got more important things to do.
- I don’t have the time.
- I’ve just had something to eat or drink.
- I won’t do it now I’ll do it later.
As a result I have developed a technique using a number of psychological tricks that work for me and also for my clients so that rather than look for excuses you look for opportunities to fit in a rehab session into your everyday life.
The principles for forming a daily routine rehab habit are:
- Keep each session short, ideally under 2 minutes, so that time is never an obstacle. This is the same length of time it takes to brush your teeth, boil a kettle, waiting for your laptop to reboot etc.
- Keep it straight forward and achievable with clear guidance. We work together to make sure the exercises are understood and practiced rather than a printout that you are handed at the end of the session.
- Keep it progressive and continually updated so that it challenges your top range of ability each time.
- Keep it simple. Where possible the exercises are standing and equipment free. If that’s not possible then using everyday readily available equipment.
- Keep going and adapt. If you feel good, do more, if you don’t feel good, do less. Either way, do something.
- Some clients find it very useful for me to video you on your own phone performing the exercise while I provide feedback and pointers. This is so you can refer back at any time to make sure your technique is good or just to refresh your memory.
My clients can progress their rehab by having realistic, bite sized homework sessions that make a real difference to their recovery inbetween appointments. Both evidence and common sense tells us that small gains every day will achieve a better outcome.
There are 2 quotes from Atomic Habits by James Clear that ring particularly true “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement” and “Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way”.