If you have injured your ACL, or have an upcoming ACL surgery, knee replacement, or hip replacement, you can start a personalized recovery plan using Curovate today. Among the most impressive features of the app are the evidence-based exercise stages that Curovate provides you with along your recovery journey. Once you input information regarding your injury and surgery, Curovate assigns you to a stage in which you are assigned specific morning, afternoon, and evening exercises to complete. If you complete all of the exercises within the stage, you will achieve the specific exercise goals that define that particular stage. Check out the Curovate App for iOS and Android by selecting one of the download links below!
How do I move back or forward between the exercise stages?
One of the most common questions people have regarding the Curovate app is how to move back or forward between the exercise stages to find the stage they should start using. This blog will focus on how to use Curovate if the exercise stage assigned to you provides you with exercises that are too easy for your recovery.
Why should I pick a harder exercise stage within Curovate?
As discussed in our blog Why Should I Be Strength Training After My Surgery, developing larger muscle tissue lowers the stress experienced by our bones when we load them. Bone loading occurs in any activity, from walking to complex activities such as jumping. After injury or surgery, people often lose muscle tissue, making activities that they once engaged in more difficult. Loss of muscle tissue contributes to increased injury rates and increased body weight.[1] In order to develop larger muscles, we need to expose our body to strength training that gradually increases in difficulty over time. This is called progressive overload, and is needed to cause our body to adapt to challenge and eventually get stronger.[2] If you find that exercises are not challenging enough for you, changing to a later exercise stage will allow you to activate progressive overload, and maximize the results of your physical therapy with Curovate!
Keep in mind that the stage you are assigned in the Curovarte app is based on one of 3 things:
- Your surgery date that you entered into Curovate
- The injury date that you entered into Curovate
- Your answers to the exercise questionnaire in Curovate
The stage you are assigned in Curovate you may often be the correct stage for your surgery or injury recovery. The stages within Curovate are based on evidence-informed rehabilitation protocols and many people should stay in the stage they are assigned within the app. Although we encourage progressive muscle strrengthening, please ensure that you are not moving ahead stages before accomplishing the goals of the prior stage.
How long is each exercise stage?
Each stage in the Curovate app is 7 days long, with the exception of stage 1, which is only 1 day long. Stage 1 is intended to be the first day after surgery which is why it only lasts one day. The rest of the stages in the Curovate app last 7 days each. Keep in mind, the early stage exercises are purposely made easy because they are designed for people who just had surgery or an injury, so their physical capacity for exercise is limited.
Follow these steps to effectively use Curovate if the exercises you are assigned are too easy:
- Open the Curovate app.
- Select your injury or sugery type. For example, if you recently had a total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, select "Total knee replacement" from the provided options.
- Input your surgery date. For example, if your knee replacement surgery took place August 26th, 2023, enter this into the "surgery date" field. Based on your surgery date Curovate will place you in an exercise stage. Let's assume Curovate places you in Stage 1. The reason for this is because it has been more than 6 months since your surgery and Cuorvate does not know your current recovery progress. If it has been within 6 months of your surgery you will likely be placed in the appropraite recovery stage.
- Check the stage goals and the morning, afternoon, and evening exercises within your assigned stage (i.e., stage 1). If you find that the exercises assigned are really easy, follow the next steps to change your exercise stage:
- Using the Menu at the bottom of the screen, or the back arrow at the top left corner of the app, return to the Curovate home screen.
- Scroll down and press “Next Stages.”
- Select a later stage; let's assume you select Stage 8. Review the stage goals and all of the exercises in the morning, afternoon, and evening sessions within this new stage.
- If you once again find that the exercises within the newly selected stage are too easy, return to the home screen, select a later stage, and review the goals and exercises. Repeat this step until you find a stage that correctly fits your current exercise capacity.
- Let's assume Stage 8 is the correct stage for you. Start with the Stage 8’s day 1 exercises, instead of the original Stage 2 assigned to you. Stage 8, similar to all other stages except stage 1, will last 7 days and then if you complete all of the stage 8 exericses the app will prgroess you to stage 9.
For a step by step guide, with a screen recording taken directly from the Curovate Physical Therapy App, watch the video below to learn how to use Curovate if the exercises are too easy for you.
The Curovate App provides you with guided exercises, rehab reminders, progress tracking, and can even measure your range of motion all with your phone. To get started, simply download the Curovate App for iOS or Android using one of the links below.
If you need further customized assistance during your surgery or injury recovery check out our Virtual Physical Therapy page to book your 1-on-1 video session with a physical therapist.
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