We get it. Trust us. Your physical therapy home program is hard to keep up with. You want to help your pain every day by doing it, but maybe you have a newborn baby. Maybe you work 60 hours a week. Maybe, you just don’t feel like doing it. Well, you aren’t alone.

Physical therapy works best when we are adherent to the program.

Here are the 5 tips!

Dig deep and remember your ultimate goal for coming into physical therapy. Write down why you went into physical therapy in the first place. Maybe it is to reduce your knee pain. Dig deeper and ask yourself why you want to reduce your knee pain. Maybe so that you can run a 5K. Can you dig deeper? Why do you want to run a 5K? To lose weight? Why do you want to lose weight? To be happier? Dig as deep as you can and keep asking yourself why. When you find your deepest motivations, the drive to get to your goals becomes easier. This concept is brilliantly used in Noom which is a program used for weight loss and healthy eating.
Think of when you were successful with a routine in the past. Remember when you studied really hard for that test and got an A? Remember when you lost 5 lbs? Remember when you did yoga one time/week? Remember when! What are your past successes? You have a lot. We know you do. What lead you to success? Was it doing something at the same time every day? Maybe you did the work in a different location (i.e. walking outside vs. a treadmill). Thinking of previous, positive results can help drive positive results now.
Habit stack. Have you read Atomic Habit by James Clear? It’s a great book that is all about creating new habits. Doing your physical therapy program is creating new habits. Habits are hard to form. That’s why books like Atomic Habit are written! In Atomic Habit, James Clear describes the concept of habit stacking which is adding a new habit to an old one. For example, you make coffee every morning. When you make coffee, you could consider adding your calf stretch on top of that coffee-making habit. Habits can form better when linked to old routines! (1)
Break your home program up. You get your home program email or leave with a piece of paper with 5 things on it. It looks like a lot, right? Well, remember that those 5 things usually don’t have to be done at the same time. Maybe you will perform a stretch at night and a strengthening exercise in the morning. Make sure that when you consider this concept, you talk to your physical therapist about what is appropriate to “break up.” For example, if you are told to do 3 sets of 10 heel raises, this might need to be done at the same time to get the best effect rather than a set in the morning, mid-day, and night. The entirety of the home program usually does not need to be at the same time, though!
Use calendars, reminders, sticky notes, phone reminders. Lists and reminders were created for a reason! Sometimes we just forget to do things. That’s why you have a google calendar! Try posting your home program by your desk so that you can be reminded to stretch your neck. Set an alert on your phone to move every 30s. We could keep going with examples, but you get it!

There are your 5 tips! If we can emphasize anything, it’s that you can do it. We know you can. We believe in you, and once you believe in yourself, change happens! The hardest step was going to physical therapy in the first place and you (hopefully!) are already in physical therapy if you think you need it. TALK TO US if you need more help with increasing your home program adherence.

SOURCES:

(1) Clear, James. “How to Build New Habits by Taking Advantage of Old Ones.” James Clear, 4 Feb. 2020, https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking.