I am going on holiday but what about my rehabilitation?

Going on holiday when you are in the middle of a rehabilitation program can be scary as you feel like you are putting your recovery on hold. I certainly felt like this before my weekend break to Paris but you do not need to worry. So whilst I was in the city of romance I wrote down 10 tips on how to adapt your rehabilitation for when you go on holiday.

1. Use the holiday as a way to have a rest, ’re charge and ’re focus your mind and body so when you get home you will attack your rehabilitation with the same Will and intensity when you first started.
2. Use the holiday as a way to exercise in a different way. For example if you are on a city break you will probably walk a lot more than you do at home without noticing it. Most cities have bikes you can hire too.
3. If you are on a beach holiday than you the joy of swimming in warm waters. Walking barefoot in the sand is not only great aerobic exercise but it also works all your small muscles in your feet that do not work when you are wearing shoes. If you are looking to run in a different way then barefoot walking in the sand will help you to achieve your goal as we naturally walk mid to forefoot in the sand. You might have lots of different water activities to try such as stand up paddle boarding or kayaking. If you are staying in a large resort then you might have daily aqua fit classes to attend.
4. Most exercises that you have been working on at home can be taken on holiday with you. If your hotel has a gym then that is fab but if it doesn’t then some gym exercises can be adapted so you can do them in your hotel room.
5. A tennis, golf or lacrosse ball can be packed in to your suitcase and used in place of your foam roller. A thera-band can be used for strength, resistance and mobility work. For example if you use dumbbells in the gym to work your biceps well the thera-band will still give you a work out.
6. Body weight exercises such as lunges and squats are great and can be done any wear, hotel room or the pool. These exercises will give you time to focus on your technique, make you aware of your knee alignment plus you can add the thera-band around your knees and this will make your glute muscles work harder.
7. If you want a rest from your rehabilitation exercises a you feel like you need a break in order to ’re focus. Then you could just concentrate on stretching your way through the holiday. Just a couple of key stretches every day will make a difference post-holiday.
8. You could use your holiday as a time when you can focus on your mental wellbeing. I know from personal experience how difficult to keep the positive mental attitude going during weeks and months of rehabilitation. So take this holiday time to write down a list of positives such as what you can do now that you couldn’t at the start of your rehab. What parts of you are stronger now? Do you ache less? Perhaps you have grown to like your cross training activities be it swimming, cycling or walking.
9. Then write down what you want to achieve physically in the next 12 months. Include easy goals but also write down things you have always wanted to do.
10. Finally write down ways change up your rehab plan, maybe this includes new exercises or new goals such as using more weight or doing your exercises more often.