It’s nothing new that athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and physically active people can suffer from injuries because of the nature of their activities. Intense training, scrimmaging, or lifting heavy workout equipment can cause their bodily tissues to tear apart, causing injuries.
Some injuries require surgical operations or treatment, while some recovery periods take months to years. But with continued innovation in the medical field, there are many ways one can recover from their injuries. It’s a good thing that rehabilitation innovation can help hasten recovery, which includes a home exercise program (HEP).
What’s A Home Exercise Program?
Home exercise programs are personalized therapeutic exercises that physical therapists teach patients as a home activity. They’re meant to supplement the in-clinic programs to aid patients toward full injury recovery. It’s advantageous for patients who cannot go to clinics and treatment centers for therapy or those who want to stay at home to avoid inconvenience.
What Are Its Benefits?
While you might now know one advantage of a HEP, there’s still more than what meets the eye. Let’s learn more about the benefits of a home exercise program below.
1. Helps Minimize Injury
A HEP is vital in minimizing the chance of the patient experiencing the same injury as when they work out outside. The body heals naturally by regularly exercising at home. Hence, it helps previously injured patients attain marked muscle strength and endurance improvement.
Following a home exercise program can prepare the body for strenuous activities, promote good posture, and reinforce proper movements, like lifting and twisting. In addition, the bones become stronger to sustain stress, weight, and injury.
If you want to prevent the same injury, schedule an appointment to see a physical therapist. Physical therapists at Easy Allied Health and similar rehabilitation service providers offer in-clinic and home exercise programs.
2. Promotes Rapid Rehab Program Progression
The recovery process and the overall rehabilitation result can be affected by pain tolerance, swelling, and the body’s health status before the injury.
In the clinic, the first phase of the rehabilitative process starts. The next phases of injury rehabilitation include improving range of motion, flexibility, strength, and balance. These phases usually include a combination of in-clinic and home exercises.
With the help and support of a physical therapist PT), the patient learns the different exercises to help improve muscle strength, flexibility, and endurance. In addition, a home exercise program reinforces the lessons patients get during the in-clinic exercise sessions, promoting a more rapid rehabilitation progression.
3. Promotes Active And Healthy Lifestyle
With a home exercise program, you can help boost your muscle memory or acquire an activity or skill due to frequent movement repetition. The patient’s body can grasp the newly added exercises during rehabilitation. Over time, regular exercise becomes a part of your daily routine or a favorite hobby.
For this reason, physical therapists stress the importance of home exercise in promoting an active and healthy lifestyle. Hence, a home exercise program can provide long-term and lifetime health and fitness benefits.
4. Helps Get You Back In The Game
Physical therapists suggest exercises to help injured players get back into the game. The same is true for people who have had a slip, fall, sprain, fracture, or other injuries due to their job’s nature or everyday encounters.
A home exercise program may include isometrics to increase muscle strength. Your physical therapist may advise you to push against the wall, use elastic bands, and eventually lift weights. The program also focuses on balance and proprioception (the ability to determine the body’s surface position without looking).
5. Improves Quality Of Life
A home exercise program can help improve a person’s quality of life or the ability to enjoy routine activities, hobbies, and work without feeling too much stress, pain, anxiety, or other disease signs and symptoms.
Many seniors can benefit from HEP because they have limited mobility. It helps improve the range of motion and prevent bone stiffness due to lack of activity. In addition, patients with chronic and debilitating conditions can improve their quality of life by undergoing home exercises. HEP can help prevent contractures due to prolonged immobility or activity restrictions.
Conclusion
A home exercise program is highly beneficial for patients who need to recover from injury. It can also benefit seniors and patients suffering from chronic conditions.
However, choosing a home exercise provider with experienced physical therapists is a must. By doing so, you can get the most out of your home exercise program.
