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Resolve to Keep Your Resolutions Simple

Resolve to Keep Your Resolutions Simple

After years of treating patients, most physiotherapists become increasingly selective with the home exercises they prescribe to their patients.  This is not because they feel the exercises are not warranted or effective, but rather because many patients fail to perform a long list of exercises.  Despite their best intentions, people lead busy lives, and have any number of tasks competing for their attention and time.

As a rule, the exercises that patients tend to complete regularly are the ones that fit into their busy lifestyles without taking up extra time.  Examples of these that anyone can fit in include activities such as improving your balance by standing on one leg at a time for 30 seconds while brushing your teeth.  Most dentists say you should brush your teeth for at least 2 minutes, twice a day.  While physiotherapy exercises may get swept to the side just because they don’t make your breath smell fresh, almost everyone makes a real effort to brush their teeth.  That means there are 4 minutes of each day where you can multi task and fit in some daily activity.  In addition to improving your balance, you could also perform repetitions of calf raises by rolling your weight forward onto the balls of your feet and toes and raising your heels off the floor.  The list of options also includes squats, or wall squats. Later, when the kettle is boiling, you could perform lunges or even a set of jumping jacks or press ups.

Walking is of course another great form of exercise, so why not park your car a bit further from the entrance of work or the shops, and perhaps walk a bit faster than you normally do just to get your heart rate up a bit. When advertisements come on the tv, there’s another chance to do a few chair squats, bridging exercises, or to stretch your hamstrings or quadriceps.  The options are endless and focus on either flexibility, strength or balance.  The real key is to decide which exercises you prefer and to get them as integrated into your daily routine as teeth brushing, turning the kettle on, and watching tv already are

While Cleaning teeth resolve to;

  • Stand on one leg
  • Perform calf raises
  • Do squats

While waiting  for r kettle to boil resolve to :

  • Do lunges
  • Jumping jacks
  • Press ups

When parking resolve to;

  • Park further away so you get more steps in your day 10,000 per day minimum recommended
  • Walk quicker so you get slightly out of breath

When watching adverts in TV resolve to;

  • Do some chair squats
  • Do bridging exercises
  • Stretch hamstrings or quadriceps

If you are not sure which types of exercises you may personally benefit from or you don’t know how to perform the exercises mentioned above, come and see one of our physiotherapists for a one-off appointment and we can assess the areas you would most benefit from and give you a programme to work on throughout the year.

Happy and Healthy New Year to you and your family

 

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