If you were involved in a life-changing accident or you were born with a disability, you want to be able to live your life to the fullest. Regardless of the severity of your disability, there is a determination to do things for yourself and to learn new ways to achieve your goals. To make this possible, it is important that you keep as active as you can to build up strength and flexibility. Here are some of the ways that you can keep active when you have a disability.
Consult Your Doctor or Physical Therapist
Before you do any exercise, it is important that you speak to your doctor or physical therapist. If you are seeing your doctor, it may be a good idea to ask them if you can see a specialist with regards to your exercises. Although your doctor will know the details of your condition or injury, a specialist will have a better understanding of your limitations. They can advise you in detail about what exercises you can and cannot do. It is also a good idea to ask to be referred to a physical therapist. Physical therapists are trained to understand how the body moves, so they are in an ideal position to aid you in finding what exercises you should do. They may even be able to give you some specific exercises to help you achieve your goal. Besides, you may even need the help of a therapist to keep going. BetterHelp provides information about how to find the right therapist near you from the convenience of your home.
Aim for Movement and Joy
If you are just starting to be more mobile after an injury, you will be conscious of the fact that you now have limitations that you may not have had previously. That can be demoralizing and frustrating, so you need to try and focus on something that you love to do. If you have always liked doing yoga for example, then you may still be able to do some or all of the moves. By starting with something you love and get joy from, it will diminish the feelings of frustration and make you feel good again. You will also be getting stronger and fitter with each day that you do your exercising. You should also think about whether there is something that can help you to partake in an exercise you love. Maybe there is a special adaptation or a modified technique that will allow you to do your favorite exercise. Not only will it help you physically, but it will also help to improve your mood and promote positive thinking.
Don’t Do It Alone
Many classes are designed for people with disabilities. Not only does this help you to find people with similar abilities and limitations to training with, but it also has additional staff to keep you safe. If these classes are some distance away, then you could check out handicap vans for sale so that you have the mobility to get to your classes. You can also arrange to pick up friends with you that might want to join in with the class. By joining such activities, you are making new friends and preventing yourself from becoming isolated and lonely.
Start Gently
As with anyone that is considering exercising after a long period, you need to take things easy at first. If you try to do too much from the beginning, it won’t help you and could make things worse. You should listen to your body and try only to do what you physically can each time. If you try to go further than you should, you risk causing yourself a further injury that could leave you immobile again for a while. You must learn to be kind to yourself and your body and learn to understand your limits. Once you have achieved that, you can start to push the boundaries as you get fitter and have increased suppleness. It is also a time when you might make mistakes because of your injury. You should try to see them as mishaps and learn to laugh at yourself and with others. It will put you in a better frame of mind and help to prevent frustration.
Never Give Up
If your training isn’t going the way you planned, or you are having further physical problems, it can be easy to think about giving up. It is important, however, to stay focused and keep going with the exercising regime. When you first start, things will be difficult, but, if you can learn to take things easy, you will quickly start to see an improvement. It can be helpful to speak to others who have been through similar things to ask them about how they felt and how they coped with getting fitter and setbacks. Knowing that others have been in the same position and come through it will give you a lot of encouragement. It can be beneficial to start by giving yourself small goals that you can meet each day or week. Then, as you get fitter, you can move those goals a little each time. Before you realize, you will be doing things you couldn’t do a few weeks before.
Try to Vary Your Activities
To maximize the effectiveness of your exercise, you should aim to do a variety of different activities. Ideally, you want to partake in activities that work different muscle groups to give you a general workout for your whole body. For example, if you are doing yoga, then you should try to add some light weights into the mix. Perhaps you can also try to do some swimming if you can or cardiovascular work. By combining the exercises into a short 20 to 30-minute routine, you will be encouraging your body to become fitter all over and not just concentrating on one area.
When you have a disability, it can be incredibly difficult to get the motivation to start exercising and becoming as mobile as possible. However, it is important that you use all the adaptations and exercises that are available to you, to help you become more active.
