Making a habit of training for physical recovery

Things happen that can take our lives off track. A catastrophic injury, stroke or other neurological condition is never part of anyone’s life plan. Rehabilitation and physical recovery is going to be viewed as a unique challenge or an insurmountable burden we have to face.

When these things happen, how we respond to the challenge of seeking recovery is obviously influenced by the severity of the physical issues. It is also shaped by our individual character and our mindset - our attitudes and beliefs. We are going to be bathed too in the attitudes and beliefs of others that can either spur us into action or deter us from ever making a start.

We live in a time where the underlying belief in recovery has never been stronger thanks to research on neuroplasticity. We might not know all we need to know about this yet, but It has had the effect of creating hope. It has also led to innovation and new product development to be deployed for rehabilitation.

We now see in the UK, a number of intensive therapy centres which employ exercise-based therapy and technology to enable their clients to pursue their own rehabilitation journey. There is no doubt that some people will benefit greatly from utilising these resources but, leaving aside finance, I wondered if there are any keys that can lead to the best results. To answer this question we can look at how athletes train.

How elite athletes train to succeed

There are a number of parallels between training for success in sport and training to achieve rehabilitation goals. To encourage neuroplasticity in rehabilitation, we might talk about the need for frequent, intensive and task-specific effort, but before we even can think about that we should recognise the imperative for adherence. We have to be able to stick to a programme for long enough to produce results. That’s often a challenge if the client has to attend a specialist centre as that is likely to demand resources that are generally limited - ie money and time.

If the client can train for recovery at home then other fundamental issues become clearer. These are expressed in the diagramme below.

Inspired by Marc Bubbs work with elite athletes, the diagramme points to the steps required to build adherence to a rtaining programme. I can see parallel steps as being applicable to rehabilitation.

Step 1 - Inspiration is the spark. In rehabilitation circles it may represent the fact that the client sees hope that progress can be made and can see the shape of a future goal. This spark fades fast unless motivation can be found.

Step 2 - Motivation is enthusiasm. It’s a slower-burning aspect of inspiration and will keep you moving for a little while. Hope is still alive but maybe you are not seeing results just yet.

Step 3 - Discipline is supported by the inspiration a motivation that started you down the track. For a while, you can tell yourself that results will come if you stick it.

Step 4 - Training needs to be a habit. A habit is when the behaviour becomes second nature; you don’t have to think about it. You are no longer relying on motivation and inspiration. You do this because it feels right; you have always done it.

In all areas of life, high achievers, great leaders propel themselves beyond the successes of others.

I think our clients need help in seeking realistic and achievable goals and they need the guidance and the technology to act. However. just as important will be working through the steps that take us from intial inspiration through to the creation of a habit.