What do you do when you’re just not motivated to exercise? In physical therapy we assign homework for patients so they can recover from their injuries and prevent recurrences. Commonly patients are semi or non-compliant with their exercises. How do we motivate ourselves when intellectually we know that it is beneficial to exercise, stretch or make lifestyle modifications? Here are some suggestions to keep you on track: Set up a reward system. This is along the lines of “work before play”. I recommend that the reward after doing your exercises should still have an element of being relatively healthy versus rewarding yourself with a candy bar or sitting down for 3 hours to watch a ballgame.
Studies and opinions vary about how long one should stretch. Your age, medical condition, and tolerance are factors to take into consideration. The benefits of stretching include improved flexibility, increase in muscle performance, and a decrease in sensation of joint pain. In addition, flexibility can indirectly decrease risk for injury. There are various mechanical theories as to how muscles become lengthened. Determining which theory is most valid could be used as a guideline to promote stretching in such a manner that supports the theory. Unfortunately, all of the theories have varying degrees of merit. Though some show improvements in the short term, none can account for the long term
