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Your home exercise program How to make physical therapy work between visits, and keep the results after you finish
A home exercise program is the short list of exercises your physical therapist gives you to do between visits. It usually takes 10 to 20 minutes, most days of the week, and includes a few mobility, strength and balance moves matched to your problem. It matters because two or three therapy visits a week cannot change tissue on their own; the daily practice at home does. Mild soreness that fades within a day is fine, while sharp pain or more swelling the next day means the program needs adjusting.
Most people leave their first physical therapy visit with a printed or app-based list of exercises. It is easy to treat that list as optional, but it is where most of the progress happens. The videos show the kind of work you learn in the gym and then repeat at home with a band, a step or a chair.
What a home exercise program includes
- Mobility: one or two moves to restore range of motion, such as heel slides after knee surgery or chin tucks for the neck
- Strength: two to four exercises for the muscles that support the injured area, often with a resistance band
- Balance and control: standing on one leg, step-ups or slow lowering, which protect against re-injury; see balance exercises
- Pain relief: sometimes a gentle stretch, heat or ice for flare-ups, alongside the manual therapy done in the clinic
A good program is short. Three to six exercises you actually do beat fifteen you skip.
How to do your home exercise program
- Pick a fixed time: after brushing your teeth, before work or during the evening news
- Follow the dose: sets, repetitions and hold times are set for a reason; more is not always better
- Use the 24-hour rule: mild soreness that is gone by the next day is fine; pain that lingers or swelling means scale back
- Track it: a tick on a calendar or app shows your therapist what is working
- Bring questions: if an exercise feels wrong, show your therapist at the next visit
How the program changes as you improve
Early on, the program is gentle and mostly about motion and calming pain. As you improve, your therapist adds resistance, harder balance drills and movements from your work or sport, as in strength training after injury. Visits usually taper while the home program grows; how many physical therapy sessions explains typical visit counts. If you are new to therapy, see what to expect at physical therapy.
Keeping results after therapy ends
When you finish, you should leave with a maintenance version of your program, usually two or three short sessions a week. People who keep it up are far less likely to have the problem return. For back pain, our lower back pain exercises and for stiffness after an injury, regain mobility after injury are good next steps.
More videos of exercises that carry over to home
More clips from our YouTube channel @precisioncaremedical showing exercises that move from the clinic into a home exercise program.
Related care at Precision Care Medical & Sports Performance
A physical therapist near you
Want a physical therapist near me who will build a home program you can stick with? For physical therapy in Brooklyn, physical therapists Zoya Reznik, DPT, OCS and Maggie (Yi) Zhang, DPT, with physical therapist assistants Dennis Furman, PTA and Leila Nahmoud, PTA see patients at our Brooklyn physical therapy office on Shell Rd, close to Midwood, Coney Island and Sheepshead Bay.
For physical therapy on Staten Island, physical therapists Victoria Lynn Kain, DPT and Nicholas “Nick” Ursini, DPT treat patients at our Staten Island physical therapy office on Richmond Rd, a short drive from New Dorp, Eltingville and Great Kills. Physical therapy is not offered at the Manhattan office. Request an appointment or call the office closest to you.
Questions patients ask
How often should I do my home exercise program?
Most programs are done once a day, five to seven days a week, and take 10 to 20 minutes. Your therapist may set strength work every other day.
What if my home exercises hurt?
Mild soreness that fades within 24 hours is normal. Sharp pain during an exercise, or more pain and swelling the next day, means you should stop that exercise and tell your therapist.
Do I need equipment for a home exercise program?
Usually not much: a resistance band, a step or stair, a chair and sometimes a small weight. Your therapist adapts the program to what you have.
Can a home exercise program replace physical therapy visits?
For mild problems it can do much of the work, but visits are where your therapist checks form, progresses the exercises and treats by hand. Most plans use both.
How long should I keep doing my exercises after therapy?
Keep a short maintenance version two or three times a week for at least a few months, and longer if the problem has come back before.
Where can I get physical therapy near me?
Precision Care Medical & Sports Performance offers physical therapy at two offices:
- Brooklyn2781 Shell Rd, Suite 101, Brooklyn, NY 11223(718) 648-1234 · Get directions
- Staten Island1630 Richmond Rd, Suite 101, Staten Island, NY 10304(718) 339-7100 · Get directions
Physical therapy is not offered at the Midtown Manhattan office.
Educational only, not medical advice. These videos and this article explain common problems and treatments in general terms. They are not a diagnosis or a treatment plan for you. Results vary from person to person. See a qualified clinician about your own symptoms, and call 911 or go to an emergency room for an emergency.
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