Clinical Pearls For Effective Exercise Progression

Tough to Treat

In this episode, Erica speaks about prescribing specific exercises based on the difficulty level relative to the region of the body driving the patient's symptoms.

NOT the pain generator.

NOT the area of symptoms.

If someone has knee pain, and their driver is their foot, then the exercise program is geared towards the foot, NOT the knee. SLR's and quad sets won't work here.

She also explores the significance of personalized exercise prescriptions in optimizing recovery outcomes. There are many clinical pearls in this episode, one of which is, "Why would a side-to-side deep squat be harder for the foot than the thorax?" Both are lateral movement patterns.

She also discusses the clinical reasoning behind a well-thought-out exercise plan. Remember: we are trying to give our patients options for movement and variability across many activities. Building volume of exercise at low levels is key to this outcome as is challenging the driver across many planes.

A glance at this episode:

• [3:38] Prescribing specific exercises based on the patient's main driver, not the symptom

• [8:02] Identifying the level of difficulty for a specific exercise using regional analysis

• [14:02] How to dose exercise based on what is meaningful for the patient

• [17:58] Exercises for improving lower body control and center of mass

Related links:

• Tough To Treat Website

• Erica’s Course: Decoding the Complex Patient

• Susan’s Pelvic Health Education Subscription

• Access the Transcript