Have you found yourself reliant on rehab… stuck in a repeating cycle from injury to rehab, you return to training only to get injured again and then its back to rehab?
You are not alone. It’s a frustration we hear of regularly on our consultation calls.
The good news is that the repeating cycle can be broken.
In this article we’re going to share with you the five common reasons why your shoulder rehab might not be working.
It’s important to note here that the reason people get injured initially can be varied and multifaceted so we’re not trying to overly simplify this.
ONE: ADHERENCE
The biggest challenge in the standard model of rehab delivery is that 50 - 70% of people don’t do the exercises they have been given.
Why? Maybe:
you don’t understand the problem and why the exercises will help
you can’t remember what the exercises are
the exercises are boring
you don’t know if you’re doing them properly
your shoulder stops hurting so you forget, only it starts hurting again when you go back to higher intensity training
you don’t feel like the exercises are working or you’re not seeing improvement
you don’t know how to integrate them into your existing training week
The list could go on.
TWO: NO ACCOUNTABILITY
Typically, with the standard rehab model you might get three exercises prescribed. Perhaps that’s printed out with some sketches to show you what the exercise is or worse, you might receive a handwritten prescription of exercises on a piece of parchment.
No joke, this is a true story shared with us by a client. There were no reps, sets or tempos and no indication of how many times a week or any visual instruction at all to help him do the exercises at home.
You’re then sent on your way to come back in a few weeks with no contact in between your appointments.
The question is: why do we not coach rehab?
If you’re not injured, you can go to your small group personal training (SGPT) or coached class and someone will help you improve. However, when you do get injured, you get sidelined and expected to manage alone.
Rehab can be a hard journey to navigate by yourself. That’s why we coach it. If the proof is in the pudding, to date our adherence rate is 100%.
It’s a lot easier to get outstanding results if you want to do the work and you’re supported throughout the process.
THREE: TREATING THE SYMPTOMS
We often see clients who have worked with other therapists in the past for their shoulder issue and not seen any change. Usually, this comes down to treating the symptoms rather than the cause i.e. your shoulder hurts, they look at your shoulders and give you some exercises for your shoulders.
However, the shoulder is complex and part of a system, so you need to take a system approach. There is a lot of stuff going and we need to identify the root cause because root causes lead to long-term solutions rather than short-term fixes.
For example, we can look at the common problem of pain between the shoulder blades (read full blog). In our blog about this issue, we explain how you need to consider your spine and ribcage as well as strength in your shoulders.
FOUR: NOT GOAL FOCUSED
The most important question in shoulder rehab; “What do you want to do with your shoulder?”
If it’s a return to Rugby, CrossFit or combat sports, the rehabilitation programme needs to reflect the demands that these sports will place on your shoulder.
We see too many people being given three generic rehab exercises that aren’t progressed and never replicate or prepare properly for the demands of what these people want to do. Is it any surprise that so many people then return to sport or activity only to get injured again.
If your rehab programme is a million miles away from the patterns, intensities and complexity of the thing you want to do, book a call.
Our team have been programming exercises for elite athletes who have complex movement challenges for over 17 years. We know what it takes to physically prepare someone to return and stay in their sport.
FIVE: NOT GETTING FAR ENOUGH FROM THE CLIFF EDGE
The problem we see with standard rehabilitation practice is that they only move people from the bottom of the cliff to the edge at the top, not providing enough depth to move people far enough away from the edge that they don’t fall back down.
This means that people get out of pain, and they are better for a short period of time only to find themselves back where they started. The frustration of the repeating cycle from injury to rehab to training only to get injured again and be back at rehab can be broken.
When our personal coaching clients finish their programme with us, they leave with the outcome they wanted and with the knowledge and tools of how to look after their shoulders in the future.
We consistently get good results using our three-step system where we determine your individual needs, design you a training programme to meet your objectives and help you drive performance to reach your goals.
FREE RECORDED WEBINAR
SHOULDER PAIN: HOW TO STOP THE REPEATING CYCLE
Do you struggle with repeated shoulder issues, constantly rehabbing, working with physios, building up just to get hurt again and back to step one?
Is this repeating injury cycle stopping you from progressing in your sport or training and is it impacting your life outside of the gym; your sleep, your ability to do simple tasks like put a backpack on or pick your kids up?
In this webinar, Tim will share how we help our clients to stop this cycle and not only get pain-free but hit lifetime best performances, regain confidence and renewed physical freedom.
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