Making a plan

A young woman with long dark hair, glasses, and a white T-shirt is holding a camera with a large lens, sitting outdoors near a large tree and colourful chairs.

The aim of this section is for you to think about your preferences for physical activity and to start to make a plan for what you would like to do!

1. Working out the 'How', 'Who', and 'Where

2. How do you want to be active?

3. Who do you want to exercise with?

4. Where do you want to exercise?

Working out the ‘How’, ‘Who’, and ‘Where’

A successful physical activity experience will meet your needs for:

Why you want to be active
How you want to be active
Where you want to be active
Who you want involved

Choices about physical activity should be guided by what you want, but might also be impacted by other factors like:

Your work or study commitments
The programs, activities or services you already use
Where you live
The opportunities available

Thinking about your preferences for physical activity can help to narrow down the types of opportunities you are looking for, and communicating these to people who might support you.

A young man wearing a helmet is riding a three-wheeled bike on a sidewalk. He is smiling and wearing a dark t-shirt and shorts. There are trees, a brick wall, a parked red car, and a utility pole in the background on a sunny day.

How do you want to be active?

When you are thinking about how to be active, it can be helpful to consider which sorts of activity suit your preferences and life at the moment.

There are also many ways to be active.

Structured or unstructured
By yourself or with others
Competitive or social

If you have been active before, it can be helpful to think about those previous times you have been active – what did you enjoy about those activities, and what you didn’t you like?

Two scuba divers underwater, one holding a life ring, with bubbles and rippled water surface above.

While on holiday, Gaurav went snorkeling!

Pictured here by diving buddy James Czencz.

A purple-bordered card with a cloud bubble icon in the top left corner, featuring reflective questions about physical activities and exploring new activities to try.

Pros and cons

If you haven’t been involved in many physical activities before, the points below outline some of the pros and cons of different activities, suggested by our team.

Child sitting on a rowing machine in a gym, holding the handle with a green ball placed between their legs, with gym equipment and people working out in the background.

Structured exercise

Pro: Regular time and place

Con: Requires more planning (transport, support workers)

Unstructured exercise

Pro: Flexible timing

Con: Easy to end up not doing it

Three women in a swimming pool, smiling and conversing, holding water bottles, with other people swimming in the background.

Alone

Pro: You have the opportunity to complete an individualised training program, at your own pace

You can ask for guidance from gym employees as required, or to demonstrate how to use a machine (one-on-one assistance)

Con: Potentially less social interaction with other members or groups in classes may be a difference between individualised and group exercise

With others

Pro: You have the opportunity to experience increased social interactions between other members, gym employees, and the community. This can be particularly powerful for people who are community-oriented.

Con: There may be less one-on-one assistance for targeted exercise programs

A person sports shooting basketball while wearing a black shirt and a white headband during a game, surrounded by teammates and spectators in a gymnasium.

Competitive focus

Pro: You can learn how to perform at a competitive level, using modified equipment or programs, as required

Con: Competitive exercise can be fast-paced, potentially allowing for less tailored assistance or social interactions

Social focus

Pro: You have the opportunity to socialise with others who have similar interests and goals

Con: People may take it less seriously than you

Who do you want to exercise with?

Having people to support you to get active can help make it easier to find and start activities. This might include family members, friends, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, support workers, sports coaches and recreation staff.

There is no ‘right’ person to help with getting started. The people you involve should depend on your preferences, and their knowledge or skills.

These preferences may also change depending on the type of activity or time you have been doing the activity.

Many people with cerebral palsy feel that it is important that supporters have the ‘right attitude’ to getting started.

Some important attributes might be:

Some understanding of disability or cerebral palsy
Creative thinker
Works as a team with your other supports
Supports your choice and control over physical activity

You might like the support of different people, at different stages. For example, who supports you to get involved with physical activity might be different to who supports you during the activity.

Decisions might also be influenced by other factors like what is available in the local area, the cost, and the expectation of others.

The funding that you have available may also influence what support people you can access.

Even if you do not usually use support workers, you might find that having a support worker for physical activity saves you time and energy.

Nick’s EP set up his gym program and got him comfortable with the exercises and equipment.

Now he can go regularly with his support worker.

Finding people to assist with physical activity in the community is often a challenge for adults with cerebral palsy.

Thinking about the tasks you might like support for and your preferences for the person supporting you might help to narrow down '‘who’.

Working out who will support you

Support can be for:

Co-ordinating some or all aspects of the activity
Saving time/energy

Transport
Physical assistance
Personal care
Motivation/encouragement
Exercise technique and safety

Some attributes that might be important to young adults with cerebral palsy are:

Someone with shared interests
Family or friends
Their gender
Their age
Their experience (disability or activity)
Their training or qualifications

A support card with a purple border and purple circle with thought bubble icon. The card contains text: 'Reflection point. Which support tasks might be important to you? Which attributes might be important to you? Tip: We will work through these in more detail in 'get started'.

A woman leaning towards a smiling man in a wheelchair, surrounded by bubbles, inside a room with brick walls and large windows.

Michael loves to sing and dance to rock and roll music.

For him, having a support worker who also loves music and dancing is really important!

Where do you want to exercise?

A young man with red hair, blue eyes, and light skin, smiling and wearing a dark navy polo shirt, standing against a plain light-colored wall.

“From my experience this information was hard to find. If I didn’t know people involved, I wouldn’t have known at all.”

-Tate

Finding opportunities

A person in a wheelchair being handed a ribbon by a man, at an indoor event in a gymnasium. Two women and a young man are watching, with basketballs and sports equipment visible.

Finding opportunities for physical activity can sometimes feel challenging, especially since many programs and activities aren’t widely advertised.

A great way to discover what’s available is by talking to people in your network—friends, family, support workers, or even online communities.

When others know you’re interested in physical activity options, they’re more likely to share opportunities they come across.

Staying open to different possibilities can help you find an activity that suits your interests, needs, and lifestyle.

Our team has found physical activity options in the community through:

- Other people with disabilities
- The services you use - for therapy, for support workers, for other activities.
- Parents
- Friends
- School and university
- Social media
“I had to keep asking around and keep asking. At the time there was nothing but a few months later my friend mentioned they saw on Instagram an adapted climbing group was having a come and try day”
Joining cerebral palsy Facebook and Instagram accounts can help with learning of opportunities in your area
Access and Inclusion teams

A graphic with a thought bubble icon and the text 'Reflection point: Who in your network could you ask about physical activity opportunities?'.

Come and Try days

Come and try days are becoming more popular as a way for clubs and recreation organisations to showcase the adapted sports on offer.

They can be a good way to try something new in a relaxed and casual environment, or even go and watch what it looks like.

Brenton (above) found out about adapted climbing from an all abilities come and try day advertised by the rock climbing club.

Freya and Alex (above and below) went to a come and try day run by the recreation industry where they could try lots of different sport options.

Home, community, or therapy centre?

Many adults with cerebral palsy also like to exercise at home or in a therapy centre.

Your preferences on why you want to be active, who you want to do it with, and how you want to do it will probably guide where your physical activity happens.

For Michael, having the option to exercise at home means he can do it everyday!