The exercise search screen offers two ways to order the exercises that match your keywords and filters: A–Z SORT and SMART SORT. Changing the sort option does not add or remove matching exercises. It changes the order in which those results are presented.
A–Z SORT is the predictable alphabetical option. Exercises you have marked as favourites are shown first. Your favourites are ordered alphabetically, followed by all remaining matching exercises in alphabetical order. Choose A–Z Sort when you know an exercise title or prefer to browse a conventional list.
SMART SORT places the exercises you are most likely to want nearer the top. It considers how closely the exercise title and keywords match your search, how commonly exercises are prescribed across The Rehab Lab, and the exercise usage built up by your clinic and signed-in therapist account. A strong title match remains more important than popularity, so a common but loosely related exercise should not outrank the exercise whose name best matches your search.
Smart Sort also works with body-region, joint and exercise-type filters, and when no keyword is entered. Translated exercises can use the prescribing history of their original English exercise, so newer language libraries do not have to begin with no useful ranking information.
Smart Sort learns from exercises that are actually included in successfully created or emailed programmes. It does not treat a search, preview or click as proof that you prefer an exercise. When there is little history for a new therapist account or clinic, that limited information has only a small influence and the ranking relies mostly on overall exercise popularity. As more programmes are created, your therapist-account and clinic usage gradually has a stronger influence.
This is not live artificial-intelligence or machine translation. It is a privacy-conscious ranking calculation based on matching search text and accumulated exercise-use counts. It does not use client names or clinical notes to rank results.
Favourites remain at the top in both modes. With Smart Sort selected, favourites are intelligently ordered within the favourites group instead of simply being alphabetical.
You can change the sort mode at any time using the switch beside the list and thumbnail-view controls. To choose which mode is selected when exercise search first opens, go to PROFILE > DEFAULTS and update your default exercise-search sorting preference.