Too many color codes!

One of the things I find strangest about my physical therapy is the color coding for all the exercises. There’s a variety of tools at the office, from resistance putties and resistance webs to exercise bands and small hand-weights and kettlebells, to exercise balls. (Note: These aren’t necessarily the brands in use at my therapists’ office, but they are representative.)

And you know what they all have in common? Not a single tool they use has the same color coding as another one. For the hand web red is the least resistance, but for the putty it’s green and for the bands it’s yellow. The lightest hand weight is pink but the lightest kettlebell is black. And the smallest ball? Purple.

I understand it’s because of the different manufacturers, but these things are used in a medical setting. You’d think there’s have been some kind of standardization by now instead of making all the therapists remember which one was which for each tool they use.

I can kind of sympathize now with they guy at my old job who decided to label all the cable with the resistor color codes instead of making up his own system.