How Much Rehab Is Enough? Avoiding Diminishing Returns in Rehab & Performance Training - Lewis Physical Therapy & Sports Rehabilitation

One of the most common questions I get from injured athletes—and even from other clinicians—is simple on the surface but complicated in practice:

How much rehab is enough?

In today’s rehab and performance world, it’s easy to feel like you’re never doing enough. Social media is filled with new drills, new progressions, and new “must-do” exercises. Athletes see one thing, add it in. Then they see another thing a few days later—and add that too.

Before long, rehab turns into a long list of exercises with no clear priority.

And that’s where progress often stalls.

🎥 Watch the Full Breakdown on YouTube

Before we go deeper, I break this entire concept down in detail in the video below:

🎥 How Much Rehab Is Enough?

▶️ Watch Now on Youtube:

This applies to both rehab and performance training, whether you’re dealing with an arm injury, a hamstring strain, or simply trying to get stronger without burning out.

Rehab Is About Managing Variables — Not Doing Everything

Rehab is really about managing variables.

At any given time, we’re trying to balance things like:

• Range of motion

• Pain

• Strength

• Stability

• Endurance

• Power

The mistake many athletes make is trying to attack all of these variables in a single session.

That usually leads to one of two outcomes:

1. The athlete feels constantly fatigued and beat up

2. The athlete isn’t actually adapting or improving

Doing more doesn’t automatically mean you’re doing rehab is better or "more advanced".

The Point of Diminishing Returns in Rehab

There is a very real point of diminishing returns in rehab.

This is the point where adding more exercises:

• Stops improving outcomes

• Starts interfering with recovery

• Reduces the quality of execution

• Makes it harder to repeat good sessions consistently

In most cases, doing too much isn’t catastrophic—but it’s also not productive.

Rehab works best when you identify the heavy hitters for that day: the 1–2 key qualities that matter most right now, and the exercises that best address them.

Example: Hamstring Rehab Done the Right Way

Hamstring rehab is a perfect example of this concept.

There are dozens of isometric and eccentric hamstring exercises you could do. The mistake is trying to do all of them in one session, multiple days per week.

A better approach:

• Select 2–3 high-value exercises

• Dose them appropriately

• Finish the session feeling trained and invigorated, not destroyed

• Allow 24–48 hours for recovery before repeating quality work

Skill, intent, and consistency matter far more than variety.

The Same Problem Shows Up in Performance Training

This issue doesn’t stop once rehab ends.

In performance training, athletes are juggling:

• Sprint work

• Plyometrics

• Weight room volume

• Accessories

• Warm-ups and cool-downs

• Sport-specific work

All of these stress the same recovery system.

If you overload everything at once, one of two things happens:

• Performance during the session drops

• Recovery between sessions suffers

Either way, long-term progress slows.

Why Smarter Programming Beats “More”

Effective programming isn’t about cramming everything into one workout.

It’s about asking:

• What qualities are we prioritizing right now?

• What movements best target those qualities?

• What needs to come down when something else goes up?

When you add one stressor, something else usually has to be reduced. That’s how you avoid overload and allow adaptation to occur.

Long-Term Results Require Long-Term Thinking

The goal isn’t to win one rehab session.
The goal isn’t to crush one workout.

The goal is:

• A successful rehab process

• Sustainable performance gains

• Fewer setbacks and reinjuries

If you feel like you’re constantly doing more but not moving forward, simplifying your approach is often the answer.

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