How many times should I do this?

Written by:  Paul Kochoa, PT, DPT, OCS, CKTP, CGFI

It never fails. Everytime I perform an evaluation on a new patient, the question always comes up: “So how many times a day should I do this?”  It inevitably gets asked after I prescribe some corrective exercise or home exercise program.

There’s nothing wrong with the question, it means that the patient is proactive and wants to do their best to fix their particular problem.  If it wasn’t asked, I might think that they didn’t care about getting better…  But the answer I give them usually makes them say, “WHAT?!?”

How many times one is supposed to do an exercise per day depends on several factors.  I usually just tell them to do something every hour or every 15 minutes.

The amount of times per day to do an exercise depends on:  if you’re doing the exercise correctly, if you’re able to perform the exercise to sufficient end range of motion, how long does any relief last, and other factors that may be counteracting the effect such as poor posture or poor body mechanics with other daily movements.

The soft tissue structures, bones, joints, and even the central nervous system need sufficient “retraining” and “resetting” to make any change.  To be effective, exercises need to make a difference in pain level or mobility, if you don’t feel a change, then there was no change.  You probably did something wrong or are not doing the exercise enough.  Also, anything that may negate the change need to be avoided.  Doing 30 back extensions to stretch out the back is worthless if you continue to sit poorly or not change your poor posture or body mechanics.

Done enough times to make a change, especially to the nervous system, your brain and body will learn how to move or how to sit correctly.  Then the frequency of the particular corrective exercise can decrease per day, but not before that time that a permanent change has happened.  Usually, my goal is to be able to teach the patient to be able to monitor their own symptoms and be able to do corrective exercises when needed as they get better and better.

But the first leg of the journey is always the hardest.  Start diligently, be consistent, be aware, and you’ll be feeling better before you know it, even if it seems you’re doing an exercise every 15 minutes.

If you would like more information, please call Professional Physical Therapy and Training at 973-270-7417.  Our offices are located within the YMCA locations in Madison and Summit, NJ.  You do not need to be a member of the YMCA to visit with us.