This is a question that is asked so many times in the health and wellness world. Especially in physical therapy, this is a question that comes up in conversation often. Often the answer is, it depends.
It depends on what reaction you are getting from the exercise and what the ultimate goal you are striving for is.
Most times, this question is about a certain exercise or movement that may be helping someone feel better. They want to know if they should do it more often, do it longer, or make it more challenging. But, it depends.
We want everything in moderation, and often in physical therapy the initial goal is to reduce the irritating activity and increase what gives relief. This is a great way to get symptom reduction, but that doesn't mean that first visit of symptom reduction will help you be pain free in the long term. While some exercises may be good for you to continue doing for longer durations, others may actually be overdone, and may need a progression or modification to continue being beneficial.
"If you don’t know where you’re going,
any road will take you there."
While this quote is great, you don't exactly want that strategy when you are trying to get out of pain, or get back on the mountain. Our model at Snowbeast Performance is to make sure we know what your goals are, and how we are going to help you meet those goals. Maybe having that first session focused on symptom reduction is exactly what you need to reach your goals. Maybe we need to talk more about what the game plan will be going forward. It depends.
No matter what, we need to Find the Root Cause that is causing you discomfort, or holding you back from reaching your potential.
Root, Latin from radix and meaning "starting point", is the deep down reason something has triggered your nervous system to feel pain or discomfort, or alerted your consciousness to seek help. To find this, we are going to deep dive into what specifically is going on with each client.
Clients come in because they had something bothering them, which was stopping them from doing something they wanted to do, and they realized they need professional help. They have usually tried treating themselves, and have often already seen other providers. They've had times of relief, but then the problem returns, or it evolves into another problem. Without getting to the root, you can't expect a long term solution.
We dive into what each client did before they come into the clinic, the exercises they've done, the treatments they've tried, and the activities they can and cannot do. We find out about their general lifestyle, and their hopes and goals for working with us. We are going to work with each client's body to what each individual needs because we understand that physical therapy is not a "one-size fits all" model.
If you're still asking if you can overdo an exercise, then I think you are starting to see that, it depends.
Physical therapy with Snowbeast Performance is also not a one way street. You don't just come in and let us work our magic without you having to take part.
It takes work from the client side, as well as the provider side, to Solve Your Pain. We work together, and we hold each other accountable by committing to a program.
Each client holds us accountable by investing in themselves, and following the guidance we provide. By them doing their best, we know we need to show up and do ours. In exchange, we hold each client accountable to stay persistent with their exercises, asking questions when things don't make sense, and keeping up with their routines and appointments.
By staying on the same page, we understand when we should and when we shouldn't. We make sure you don't overdo an exercise, and we take the guess work out of "it depends". (If you're looking to get a jump start on that, you can read more about Why Your Brain Tells You About Pain.)
Working together to develop a plan that will keep you pain free in the long term and get you back to doing what you love helps you Stay Empowered through the entire process. We ensure that there are no unanswered questions.
We have a road-map for every client that walks in the door. There might be switchbacks, backcountry trails, or roads that only make a few turns, but ultimately, we have a plan, and you are going to end up at your final destination.
We take each client along a 3 Step Process that gets them back to doing what they love!
We help them find the root cause of their pain.
Then we help them solve their pain.
And we keep them empowered so they have less questions that end with "it depends".
I know we started with the question "can you overdo an exercise?" and we went on a bit of a detour, but it might take more than one conversation to find the answer to that question. Call us today and we will be ready to help you on that journey.