The Infamous Exercise Packet

Patients often show up with a thick packet of exercises someone told them they have to do every day… forever. Spoiler: almost no one does. And worse—it promotes fear and shame, leaving patients feeling like their pain is one missed exercise away and their fault if it returns.  

So how long does a patient have to do exercises?

Here's the tip: know the difference between gaining & maintaining.

To gain strength, you need to train at least 2x/week with progressive overload (more weight, reps, or sets over time). To maintain strength? Just 1 set of an exercise per week, if you keep the weight and intensity the same. Seriously—here’s a 2021 study that supports it.

But, if you're doing it right, the patient's active lifestyle becomes what maintains their strength. And that’s way more sustainable than searching for a dusty exercise packet.