What to Do When You Fall Off Track With Your Physiotherapy Exercises
Saskatoon Physiotherapy Blog:
What to Do When You Fall Off Track With Your Physiotherapy Exercises
We see a lot of clients for physiotherapy in Saskatoon. Over the years we have noticed some trends and common things that people struggle with when it comes to their physiotherapy exercise programs.
One of these common trends or issues is clients wondering how to get back on track after they have stopped doing their physiotherapy exercise program.
If you answer yes to any of the following questions, this blog is for you:
Do you have a physiotherapy exercise program that you fell off track with?
Did life get in the way and now you’re not sure how to get back into a routine of doing your physiotherapy exercises?
Or, have you not started physical therapy because you’re worried you won’t actually be able to stick to doing your exercises at home?
If any of these are the case for you, don’t sweat it! These are common concerns and issues that we have helped many of our Saskatoon physiotherapy clients with. It happens and and we have got you covered!
Below you’ll find some guidance on how you can get back on track with your physiotherapy exercises in a few easy steps.
Step 1: Eliminate Limiting Beliefs
All too often when people experienced a setback whether it is with their physiotherapy exercise or something else, they will beat themselves up, drown themselves in guilt or shame, and sometimes even convince themselves that if they can't do something perfectly it is not worth doing at all.
It goes without saying that this is not what we recommend. However, for many people this is unfortunately what happens.
We need to make sure that this doesn’t happen to you. Here is how you can avoid this:
The first thing you need to do when you've fallen off track with your physiotherapy exercises is forgive yourself.
THINGS HAPPEN! The important thing is that when it (inevitably) does, you get yourself back on track as soon as possible.
If you struggle with self compassion and forgiveness, you may in turn struggle to forgive yourself. We recommend repeating the following to yourself out loud (even if you think it is cheesy):
Nobody is perfect.
I am not perfect.
I do not expect myself to be perfect.
Falling off track means there is a problem with my PLAN, not with ME.
I am the type of person that learns from their mistakes.
I am the type of person that gets back on track after experiencing a setback.
Drowning yourself in guilt and shame when things inevitably happen doesn't serve you or your physiotherapy goals. Rather, that is a quick way to sabotage your progress and goals.
This is especially true for those who who knowingly or unknowingly subscribe to "all or nothing" thinking or the idea that they need to be perfect or execute things perfectly.
Check in with yourself to see if that applies to you. If you hold on to those beliefs, it may be harder not to spiral when you fall off track.
It is time to let go of any beliefs that you need to be perfect, execute your physiotherapy program perfectly, and let go of the idea that if you don't do it perfectly it is not worth doing.
Further, remind yourself that if you fell off track it is more likely due to a problem with your PLAN to stick to your physiotherapy program rather than a problem with YOU (reread the points above out loud - again).
Step 2: Conduct an Investigation
Now that you've let go of any limiting or unproductive beliefs and have (hopefully) forgiven yourself for falling off track with your physiotherapy program, we now need to figure out what caused the setback.
We first need to know what the problem or barrier is before we can refine your plan to make it less likely that you experience or get derailed by that barrier again in the future.
Do some investigation to figure out what caused your setback by reflecting back on when you fell off track:
At what point did you stop doing your physiotherapy exercises?
What stopped you from doing the physiotherapy exercises?
What did you do INSTEAD of sticking to your plan to do your physiotherapy exercises??
Be careful that you don’t answer with "I stopped doing it because I'm lazy". This is the a common response and it is often a trap. The person calling themselves “lazy” is often not actually a lazy person.
They just tell themselves that they are lazy and have subscribed to that belief. If you keep telling yourself you are lazy, you will begin to identify as someone that is lazy. What happens then? You will ACT like a lazy person.
If you answered the questions in step 2 with "because I'm lazy" this tells us that you need to revisit step 1 above. The reason for revisiting step 1 is that "I am lazy" is self criticism which means you may not have forgiven yourself or given yourself the compassion you deserve. Further, it tells us that you are still subscribed to the idea that it is a YOU problem rather than a problem with YOUR PLAN. Revisit step 1 and then come back to step 2.
Step 3: Refine Your Process
Once you've figured out when you were derailed, what stopped you from doing your physiotherapy exercises, and what you did instead of doing them - you can then turn this information into action items to refine your plan going forward.
Here is what I recommend doing with that information:
Create a plan of attack so that you have a strategy or plan in place to keep you on track should you face the same scenario or barrier in the future.
Find a way to make it even easier to stick to your plan to do your physiotherapy exercises when you find yourself in that scenario again in the future.
Increase your odds of success by making it harder to do the things you opted to do instead of doing your physiotherapy exercises.
Celebrate your success every day that you do successfully do your physiotherapy exercises.
Example:
Let's say your plan or goal has been to do 2 minutes of a physiotherapy exercise every day after work and your investigation results from Step 2 are as follows:
You had a setback yesterday.
You didn't do the exercise because you were feeling too exhausted after work.
Instead you scrolled Instagram and TikTok for a half hour.
Here is what you could do to refine your process:
You talk to your wife/husband/roommate and ask them to be your accountability buddy starting today by making sure that no matter how tired you are that you do your physiotherapy exercise after work.
This may also include creating an agreement whereby next time your don't do your physiotherapy exercise after work, you have to e-transfer them $10 (they'll love this and you will not, which is perfect). Having an accountability buddy and immediate consequence if you don't follow through then makes it harder for you to not execute your plan.If feeling too tired was the barrier, one way that you could make it easier to execute your plan is moving your physiotherapy exercise(s) to a time of day when you feel more energized and less exhausted. This could be first thing in the morning, after you have coffee, or whenever else you find you have more energy. Alternatively, if doing them after work feels best for you, you could start doing them before you leave work so that you have to get them done before you can go home.The options are endless.
Knowing that you opted to scroll social media instead of executing, you can make it even harder to NOT execute your plan by downloading an app that locks your social media apps down during the hour that you usually get home from work. This removes your ability to fall into the scroll hole when you want to be doing your physiotherapy exercise(s). Alternatively, you can use your accountability buddy again by giving them your phone when you walk in the door and telling them not to give it back to you until you've done your exercises.
In terms of celebration, you could celebrate by spending some time doing something you enjoy, treating yourself to food that you enjoy, or doing ANYTHING that you find enjoyable.
Make sure to give yourself credit when you experience a setback and not only get back up, but actually put a plan in place to prevent that same setback in the future.
That is HUGE and by itself worth celebrating!
Need More Help?
If you need support, do not hesitate to book a physiotherapy appointment at our Saskatoon office. Sometimes clients prefer to spend their physiotherapy appointment discussing and working through barriers to actually doing their physiotherapy exercises, and we are happy to help with this!
We know that the best exercise program is the one that you can actually do and we are more than happy to help ensure that you BOTH have the right physiotherapy exercise program and the right plan in place to ensure that you can actually do that program and integrate it into your life!