Incorporating exercise into your lifestyle can feel daunting. When will you be able to do it? How will you do it? And which supports can you use to help reach your goals?
Keeping active can help stamina, muscle strength, and general feelings of well-being, as well as reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression – and decreasing the risk of many chronic diseases that disproportionately impact people with a disability in Australia. As with many things, starting can be the hardest step.
This article contains five of our top tips for people living with a disability who would like to get moving more, including getting started, tips for staying motivated and integrating your exercise goals with your NDIS plan.
1. Consult your healthcare team first
If you are thinking of starting regular exercise, whether at home, by playing sport, or going to the gym… it is important to make sure you have clearance from your care team first. This typically means your GP or an exercise physiologist.
Keeping healthcare professionals in the loop can prevent you from overdoing it, or trying things that may not be safe or suitable for your disability.
Questions to ask your doctor or specialist:
- What activities or exercises should I avoid?
- How much exercise can I do each day, or for the week?
- What are the best activities and exercises for me?
2. Accommodate your ability
Your activity should fit your needs, not the other way around. This can mean modifying an exercise, using adaptive technology, or in some cases choosing another activity.
Going slow and steady is more helpful for increasing your skill and strength over time than going too hard and risking injury, or just plain exhaustion. Our tip is to start with things you find fun and go at a pace that is manageable for you.
Accommodation examples:
- Resistance bands can be a good substitution for weights if gripping the handle of the traditional equipment is a barrier to strength exercises. There are different levels of bands, so you can find what feels best for your needs.
- If walking is difficult, swimming or other aquatic exercises may be an alternative for cardiovascular exercise. This gets the heart rate up without putting as much stress on joints and muscles.
Note: These are examples of what could be an alternative suitable for some people. To make a plan for your own accommodations, please consult your care team first.
3. Find a training buddy
It’s easier to stay motivated if you’re in it together! Whether that means a friend you go on walks or do yoga with, a team you train with, or a personal trainer who can help you in one-on-one sessions, keeping active alongside others can be a great way to stay on track.
Exercising with a friend or group helps with accountability. This is particularly valuable on those days when getting out of the house doesn’t seem at all appealing… If you have already committed to meeting someone or taking part in a game, you are much more likely to do it.
This is also a chance to make your activity more social, which can help align it with your NDIS plan goals around social and community participation. Meeting new people and strengthening existing connections through sports can feel less daunting because you already have something in common.
Plus it can be more fun to make exercise social than flying solo – and when we enjoy it, we’re more likely to stick to it long term.
4. Focus on your wins
Exercising with a disability, particularly if you are doing so as part of rehabilitation, can feel frustrating if you are using other people’s performance as your benchmark. But in any given gym or sports club there will always be different levels of ability and expertise. By focusing on effort and adherence over performance, you can develop a growth mindset.
A growth mindset helps you redefine the concept of success and develop resilience. Effort becomes the pathway to success, rather than your ability to do something perfectly right away. A much more enjoyable way to approach physical activity!
Even elite athletes like Paralympians remain more focused on improving their own performance than their competitor’s scores. As long as you are doing your best, that’s all that matters.
5. Use the supports available to you in your NDIS plan
The NDIS will fund what is ‘reasonable and necessary’ for you to participate in activities like exercise and sports, provided they align with your NDIS Plan goals.
While day-to-day costs (the costs anyone might reasonably be expected to pay to do an activity) will not be covered, things like assistive technology to allow you to participate may be. The funding available relates mainly to your Capital Supports Budget and your Capacity Building Supports Budget.
Relevant Capital Supports
- Assistive Technology (AT): Specialised equipment you may need to achieve your goals, such as prosthetics, orthotics, and wheelchairs.
- PACE Assistive Technology maintenance, repair and rental: For the ongoing costs of AT rental, repairs, and maintenance.
Relevant Capacity Building Supports
- Increased social and community participation: For sport, this is particularly relevant to joining a team or club where you can then participate in community and social activities. This builds your confidence, skills and independence.
- Improved health and wellbeing: To help you manage the impact of your disability with exercise, diet, and a focus on improving health outcomes. This can include personal training, working with a nutritionist, and exercise physiology. It will not include a gym membership as the NDIS sees this as a day-to-day cost, not a barrier to participation or reaching goals.
You may receive funding through other categories depending on your plan goals and the support needed to achieve them. This might include things like transport to and from activities, or a support worker to help you use equipment.
Need more information on categories for funding? See our post titled NDIS Funding Categories Explained, which outlines the different support budgets may fund your NDIS plan.
Bonus tip: Allow yourself more time to focus on your goals with Plan Management
Plan management is the middle ground between self-management and agency management.
When it comes to your plan, here’s how working with a plan manager can save you time and energy:
No time-consuming administration
If you are finding that handling the everyday admin of your NDIS plan (plus all the record-keeping and navigating the NDIS funding system) is taking up too much of your free time, plan management may be more suitable for you.
With the burden of financial administration out of the way you can focus on more important things – like meeting your movement goals.
Prompt payments with fast, accurate processing
Sometimes with self-managed plans, you may have to pay out of pocket and reimburse yourself using your NDIS funds. If the invoicing is submitted with errors or incorrect details (on your part or your provider’s part), it can take even longer to get payments processed.
Using a plan manager means you won’t have to worry about either of these. Your providers will invoice the plan manager, who will check for accuracy before submitting it to the NDIA.
Your plan manager will have a turnaround time for invoice processing (for example, NDSP offers 3-5 days) and will keep you updated if any issues need resolving.
Flexibility in choosing providers
As long as they are within the limits of the NDIS pricing arrangements (and you have the appropriate funds available for their service in your budget), plan management allows you to have full control over who you pick as your preferred provider for support services. This includes non-NDIS registered providers.
Regarding supports for physical activities, this flexibility means you can stick with or change providers to find someone you are happy with… As opposed to agency management which narrows your options to NDIS-registered providers only.
Related reading: What is NDIS plan management (and is it right for me?)
NDSP simplifies and eases your NDIS journey with:
- Our online, user-friendly Nappa portal features real-time budget tracking.
- Informative and free resources from our participant toolbox to help you understand all things NDIS.
- Experienced and trusted plan management services helping NDIS participants across Australia.
Our friendly team of experts can help you make the most out of your NDIS funding. Why not contact NDSP if plan management sounds right for you, or if you would like to switch to a new provider.
