This library explains movements physical therapists commonly teach for the hip, knee, spine, shoulder, ankle, arm and whole body: how to set up, how to move, the mistakes that waste the effort, and the easier and harder versions. Every guide is general education, not a prescription, because the right exercise and dose depend on what a licensed therapist finds when they examine you. If you live near Carmel and want someone to check your form and build a plan, the matching questionnaire connects you with an independent, Indiana-licensed physical therapist.
Last updated By the Monon Therapy Collective editorial team
- Each guide covers
- Setup, steps, mistakes, easier and harder versions, warning signs
- Who sets your sets and reps
- The therapist who examines you
- Who writes the guides
- The network’s website team (see the editorial policy)
- Where therapists see people
- Private suites at Carmel City Center
How do I pick the right exercise guide from this library?
Start with the body area that bothers you, then read the “when it helps” part of each guide in that group to see whether it describes your situation. The guides are grouped by region: hip, spine, foot and ankle, knee, shoulder, whole body, and elbow, wrist and hand, so a reader with outer hip pain can compare the clamshell and the glute bridge side by side.
If you are not sure what is behind your pain, a symptom page is a better first stop than an exercise. Pages such as hip pain when sleeping on your side and lower back pain when bending over list the usual causes and the simple checks a therapist would run, and they link back here to the movements that tend to come up for each cause.
Why do these exercise pages leave out sets, reps and weights?
They leave the numbers out on purpose, because a dose that suits one person can flare another. A therapist chooses load, range, speed and frequency from what they see in the exam: how irritable the tissue is, how strong you are on each side, what your sport or job asks of you and how you respond from one week to the next.
What the guides do give you is the part that rarely changes: where to put your feet, what should move and what should stay still, what the effort should feel like and when to stop. If you already have a home program, the guide to sticking with your home exercise program and the answer on whether you have to do the exercises at home explain how to fit it into a normal week.
Who writes the exercise guides, and has a therapist checked them?
The guides are researched and drafted by the network’s website team from public sources, and they have not been reviewed by a named, licensed physical therapist. Read every page as general education, not as advice checked by a clinician, and see the editorial policy for how pages are written, dated and corrected.
For hands-on coaching, complete the two-minute physical therapy questionnaire. A person on the matching team reads it and proposes an independent therapist in the network who sees people one-on-one in a private suite at 885 Monon Green Blvd, where a bench, cables and dumbbells make it easy to practise these movements under supervision.
Hip
- Clamshell exercise: how to do it and when it helpsA side-lying hip opener for the gluteus medius, with setup, the usual cheats and band progressions.
- Glute bridge: how to do it and when it helpsA lying hip lift for the glutes and hamstrings, from the basic bridge to single-leg and hip thrust versions.
- Nordic hamstring curl: how to do it and when it helpsA partner-held kneeling lower that loads the hamstrings as they lengthen, for late rehab and sport.
- Copenhagen plank: how to do it and when it helpsA side plank with the top leg on a bench that builds inner-thigh strength for groin and hip flexor problems.
- Hip hinge: how to do it and when it helpsBending from the hips with a long spine; the base pattern for deadlifts and a common tool in low back pain rehab.
- Monster walk: how to do it and when it helpsWide diagonal steps against a loop band to strengthen the side of the hip; used for runner’s knee and IT band pain.
Spine
- Dead bug exercise: how to do it and when it helpsA lying-down core exercise that teaches the trunk to stay still while arms and legs move.
- Bird dog exercise: how to do it and when it helpsA hands-and-knees reach that teaches the spine to stay level and untwisted while arm and leg move.
- Chin tuck: how to do it and when it helpsA slow backward glide of the head that trains the deep neck flexors; used for neck pain and neck-related headaches.
- Open book stretch: how to do it and when it helpsA side-lying rotation that loosens the mid back and the front of the chest; used for stiffness from desks and for some neck pain.
- Cat-cow: how to do it and when it helpsA hands-and-knees drill that rounds and arches the spine; used for stiffness, warm-ups and gentle movement during a back flare.
- Prone press-up: how to do it and when it helpsA face-down back extension used when bending backward eases back pain or pulls leg symptoms toward the spine.
Foot and ankle
- Eccentric heel drop: how to do it and when it helpsA slow one-leg lowering off a step that loads the Achilles tendon and calf for tendon and strain rehab.
- Single-leg balance: how to do it and when it helpsStanding on one foot, progressed step by step; used after ankle sprains, for unstable ankles and for fall prevention.
- Banded ankle inversion: how to do it and when it helpsTurning the foot inward against a band to strengthen the tibialis posterior; used for inner ankle and arch problems.
- Short foot exercise: how to do it and when it helpsLifting the arch by drawing the ball of the foot toward the heel, toes relaxed; trains the small muscles inside the foot.
Knee
- Terminal knee extension: how to do it and when it helpsA banded standing exercise for the last degrees of knee straightening after injury or surgery.
- Step-down exercise: how to do it and when it helpsA slow single-leg lowering from a step that builds knee and hip control for stairs and running.
- Spanish squat: how to do it and when it helpsA band-supported squat with vertical shins that loads the quadriceps; used for patellar tendon and front-of-knee pain.
Shoulder
- Shoulder wall slide: how to do it and when it helpsA forearms-on-the-wall slide that trains the shoulder blade to move smoothly as the arms rise.
- Banded external rotation: how to do it and when it helpsAn elbow-at-the-side band rotation that strengthens the back of the rotator cuff.
- Prone Y, T and W: how to do it and when it helpsThree face-down arm lifts that train the muscles around the shoulder blade for overhead strength.
Elbow, wrist and hand
- Wrist extensor eccentric: how to do it and when it helpsSlowly lowering a light weight with the palm down; a classic loading exercise for tennis elbow.
- Median nerve glide: how to do it and when it helpsGentle positions that slide the median nerve from neck to hand; used for carpal tunnel and some neck-related arm symptoms.
