Working out can keep you feeling good so you can get the most out of your vacation. And when you’re managing a hypermobility disorder and chronic pain like me, working out on vacation is essential. I’m sharing how I worked out without taking the focus off my vacation. Plus learn the key to enjoying your vacation when managing chronic pain!
Exercise is a major part of my life. It helps me manage my hypermobility disorder and control my chronic pain. Plus it helps me feel my best so I can be the woman, wife and mother I want to be.
I work exercise into my life almost every single day. Even the days I don’t do specific workouts, I stay pretty active. If I don’t, my joints and muscles feel like they’re falling apart and I HURT.
So when my family and I went on a 10 day vacation, I had to find a way of working out while on vacation.
I’ve created quite a few simple workouts that I was confident I could work into our vacation routine. It was the actual travel days that I was worried about because we were flying.
Flying Can Be Problematic
For whatever reason, flying REALLY messes me up. As a teenager, I would get frequent migraines. But flying in particular would trigger nasty migraines which were so bad, I’d get sick for days.
After I got diagnosed with Craniocervical Instability (one of many ways my hypermobility disorder manifests) and started treatment with my Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractor, the migraines got better then went away entirely. Except for when I flew.
Without fail, my neck would lose alignment when I flew and remained the one thing guaranteed to trigger a headache.
Maybe it’s the stress of dealing with airports. Or the pressure changes during takeoff and landing. There’s also the issue of spending so much time sitting, crammed like sardines in the airplane. Plus the extreme stress of a weak hypermobile body carrying bags. My guess is it’s a combination of things that create the perfect storm for me.
But I hadn’t flown since getting the hypermobility diagnosis, starting Physical Therapy and learning to manage my health better.
Planning Ahead for Working Out on Vacation
For the Flights:
- I planned to do full body workouts before heading to the airports. I hoped this would give my body its best shot at holding surviving the flight.
- Hubs and I had a game plan in place for how we would navigate the airports. He handled getting our bags checked and then he carried our single carry on. I was in charge of the kids. This took a ton of the physical stress off me so I could just focus on my body and the girls.
- In between flights, we stayed active by walking the concourse and even doing some bodyweight exercises. Not only did this help me maintain good posture, but it helped the girls work out their energy so they could tolerate the flights.
During Vacation:
- I did not want my workouts to be the focus of the vacation. So I didn’t plan to keep up with the workouts and runs I had been doing. All I needed was a set of full body exercises to maintain the right tension in my muscles so I could enjoy my vacation.
- I packed a couple resistance bands so I could do my core and glute exercises. There wasn’t quite enough room to squeeze my foam roller in our bags so I left it home. Turns out that wasn’t the greatest idea.
- Mentally I was prepared to be flexible and just get short 10-20 minute “workouts” in wherever I could. I was also prepared to troubleshoot as needed.
- We planned several activities that would keep us physically active since that goes a long way to helping me (and pretty much everyone) feel good.
The Key to Working Out & Enjoying Vacation with Chronic Pain:
COMMUNICATION
I communicated with Hubs and my family about how I was doing and what I was needing.
Hubs is used to helping me manage my body’s needs, but I hadn’t really told the rest of my family much about it. So I made sure to let them know why taking some time for my workouts was necessary. And when I did have pain flares, we talked about it.
It can be so easy to want to hide chronic issues. Whether because of embarrassment, not wanting to burden the family you’ve come to see, or because you don’t even want to deal with it yourself.
But when you normalize it by addressing issues as they come up, and advocate for your own needs, it makes the entire thing a non-issue.
And you know what? My family was completely supportive and respectful.
Sure, it would have been nice to go on vacation, visit my family and never have to deal with my hypermobility or chronic pain. But that’s not a realistic expectation. And when I embrace where I’m at in life, share it, and get support from my loved ones, I’m far happier.
I learned a lot about managing my health & fitness from this vacation. Planning ahead definitely made working out on vacation easy. While openly communicating made the biggest difference, especially when unexpected pain flares happened.
Read on to see my training log!
Training Log: Working Out on Vacation
Thursday
20 min Full Body Workout + Fly to Ohio
We had to get up pretty early for our flight so I couldn’t do a full length workout. But I still made sure I had time to do my 20 minute core and glute activation workout to prepare my body for the flights.
The flights weren’t bad actually! I think all my workouts and Physical Therapy up until now really helped me be able to maintain decent posture and manage stress throughout the flights.
Then we stayed active in between flights. Lots of walking up and down the concourses to help me loosen up and help the kids get their energy out!
By some miracle, I never got the migraine I was dreading from the flights. I definitely attribute that to my improved strength and endurance. Which translated to being able to maintain good posture through all that sitting.
Friday
Walk in the Woods + Recover from Flight
We took it easy today and just did gentle movement like taking a long walk in the woods! It was so nice to get out and enjoy the green forests of Ohio!
The kids had fun but they got worn out halfway through the walk. I ended up giving my oldest a piggyback ride up the hill back to the house.
My right leg and hip got pretty upset with me over that one. So I spent the evening trying to calm down that pain flare and really regretting not bringing my foam roller.
Saturday
40 min Full Body Workout
With the pain flare from last night, I did a long full body workout to help work through the remaining aches.
Unfortunately, after going on a long drive to visit my Grandparents, my right leg and hip flared up again. Luckily it wasn’t as bad so I was able to manage it and still enjoy some special family time.
Read More:
25 Minute Hips and Core Workout
Sunday
Warm Up Exercises
Continuing my warm up exercises daily, or even twice daily is definitely necessary with how much my leg and hip have been flaring up. I started the day doing a short bout of exercises, then did another set before all the family arrived for dinner.
That seems to be striking a good balance caring for my body’s needs without detracting from my time with my family.
Monday
Warm Up Exercises + Walk in the Woods
Again, I started the day with my warm up exercises. Then we spent the day being pretty active, exploring the woods and some beautiful little townships in the area.
Tuesday
Family Day at the Zoo
We had a blast walking all around the Cleveland Zoo. That place is enormous and we easily walked a couple miles! The girls did so great – but we made the right decision renting a little wagon they could ride in when they got tired.
Since it was a bit of a drive to get to Cleveland, I made sure to do a round of my exercises before and after the excursion. Luckily, I didn’t have any pain flares.
It seems like minimizing the sitting and doing targeted muscle activation exercises are key to keeping me feeling comfortable so I can be fully present for this vacation.
Wednesday
Warm Up Exercises + Hike to Brandywine Falls
Warm up exercises in the morning followed with a hike to Brandywine Falls left my body feeling pretty awesome. Plus the girls got to see their first real waterfall! We had a blast!
Thursday
Warm Up Exercises
I did my warm up exercises before and after a drive to visit my Grandparents and didn’t have any major pain flares! Then we spent the afternoon playing and enjoying the company of family.
Friday
Morning at the Lake + Warm Up Exercises
Another drive up to Cleveland to see Lake Erie and I followed my usual pattern of doing my exercises before and after. No pain flares and enjoyed a beautiful day with my family. The girls had never seen a lake so big and they loved looking for seashells and digging their fingers and toes in the sand.
Saturday
40 min Full Body Workout + Fly Home
In preparation for our flight home, I did a long full body workout. Our flights were later in the afternoon and our second flight was delayed. We ended up not getting home until nearly 10 pm!
During the delay we stayed somewhat active, walking the concourses again. But as the evening wore on, the girls got super tired so we ended up sitting and resting.
Somehow, even with all the challenges, I never got a headache and I felt pretty good the entire day.
Sunday
20 min Full Body Workout + Recover from Flight
We spent today recovering from that intense, late return flight. I did a shorter full body workout to manage some aching then just stayed lightly active.
I’m so glad I scheduled a Physical Therapy check in for tomorrow so my PT can get my right hip and leg sorted out. But I am super excited that I never experienced the dreaded migraines I used to get from flying!