All too often, I hear medical professionals telling patients to rest in order to recover from various musculoskeletal problems. While a very temporary period of rest (24-48 hours) can be useful at times to allow an acute issue to calm down, the majority of our focus should be on finding ways to keep people moving by modifying aggravating movements. If we don’t begin moving, our tissues will not develop the capacity to accommodate stress and, worse, will quickly become deconditioned

Research and practice both support this viewpoint, so let’s move past outdated ways of thinking about injury rehabilitation.