From About.com:

"A home exercise program is essential to doing well in your rehabilitation program. If your physical therapist has not reviewed several exercises for you to do at home, you should ask to do so. A home exercise regimen should be performed two to three times per day. Being active in your own rehab will greatly pay off!"

Ok, so this pushes a button. I admit it. Global, one-size fits all, you-should statements are useless.

I agree with the first sentence - sort of. I think a better word is "independent" or "unsupervised". You may not be doing the exercises at home. The term is a hold over from a hospital based practice environment. The patient is about to be discharged and they need "home instruction" which turned into "home program". It's not in sync with reality. It is essential, at some point, for you, as the client, to be able to execute a plan on your own that will maintain your improvements. Agreed.

The second sentence seems reasonable. Any client would likely want to know the answer to, "What can I do at home or on my own?" Now, depending on the case, all that the person might really be able to do is to change sitting positions, sleeping positions, duration of sitting, etc., to relieve symptoms, for example, of back pain. None of these things are "exercises" but all of them are part of an overall plan. And, why is it so important that you, the patient or client, get "several" exercises? What's wrong with one or maybe two that really work?

Third sentence. Wait a minute. Just exactly what should you be doing two to three times per day? Quad sets? Ok. I'll buy that. Jogging intervals? Don't think so.

Exercise is controlled trauma. Used wisely, exercise can heal injured tendons, ligaments, and bones; strengthen muscle; improve posture. In fact, mechanical load via exercise is the most important thing in your life. Without it, you die. Through exercise, you stress tissue. Through rest and recovery, that tissue adapts; grows stronger. Too much exercise with too little recovery leads to progressive weakness.

Part of the problem is that some clinicians use passive techniques (massage, mobilization, physical agents like ultrasound, etc) as their primary intervention and leave the "exercise" up to the patient or client to do on their own. So, if the patient has not been instructed in a "home program", then, well no exercise happens. The decision to use manual therapy or a physical agent or exercise is a clinical decision making issue and one that cannot be solved by a blanket statement that everyone should be on a "home program" and should be doing that program two or three times per day. That's just stupid.

To suggest that somehow a physical therapist has missed something because he or she did not prescribe an exercise to be performed two to three times a day is like saying a physician goofed by suggesting you should take a medication only once a day. It depends on the problem and the "medicine" you've chosen.

"Being active in your rehab will greatly payoff!" Only if you're doing the right things the right way.

More is not always better. And more at home could be a disaster.
DK