We are in the Olympic season! Nothing gets more physical or intense than seeing these men and women strive for the gold and honor of their countries. I’m excited just watching them, and it motivates me to get moving. It’s easy to get motivated to exercise, but the tricky part is STAYING motivated, especially when no one is there to keep you going. In this week’s blog, I am going to go over self-motivation and the importance of following through. More importantly though, I will discuss keeping yourself mentally as well as physically strong as you progress through your post-physical-therapy regimen.
OK, so you’ve given a lot of thought about starting physical therapy, and for that we applaud you…. loudly. You broke the ice, but it’s going to take more than that to keep you going. You’ve become comfortable with your physical therapist, and they have been telling you exactly what to do and how to do each exercise. The weeks go by, and you really begin to feel better: bigger range of motion in your limbs, relaxed muscles, and just overall feeling great. However, this is where it gets tricky. Your time with your physical therapist is wrapping up, but you’re expected to continue exercises at home on a regular basis. Not as much fun when no one is there coaching you along the way, huh. This is truly where self-motivation becomes the largest detrimental factor of your physical therapy. But don’t worry, we’re thinking about you for this very reason. Read on.
Self-motivation is something that takes a lot of patience and practice; trust me a LOT of practice to learn. It’s more than just a mindset as well. It becomes a way of life to know how to take on a task to its fullest extent and plow through every obstacle. We see this as cause of frustration, but know that we are there for you even after you’ve left our walls! We have begun to record and post online video exercise cards for your ease of transitioning to home physical therapy. See? I told you we take our patients into thought. These cards will be a perfect continuity for you from Robbins’ to your living room. That way, you still have your physical therapist there to walk you through proper form and repetition count times. I wish I had this from my local gym trainers!
So like I said, self-motivation is one of the hardest initial parts of continued exercise. But make no mistake, we have you covered when you come in to our offices, and we will ease you back to normalcy even afterwards. So, let’s get physical! Enjoy the rest of the Olympics, and actually enjoy your physical therapy, HERE and at HOME. Thanks for reading, and I hate to beat a dead horse, but stay self-motivated! You can do it!!
Your friend at Robbins Rehabilitation, Ian G.
