Disabled and Fit, How?

Some of the fittest people around are in fact disabled

I'm not disabled but I do know people who are and you may too. And, life is full of uncertainties. We just don't know what's around the corner.

How you keep fit while disabled will depend on the extent of the disability.

I've seen disabled people take part in volleyball, basketball and swimming.

At first, watching these athletes I must admit made me feel uncomfortable. Obviously, the problem is with me not them.

As the volleyball and basketball progressed, the athletes were practicing for this year's Olympics, my admiration for them started to grow. These people made their disability work for rather than against them.

Steve Scott is Chair of the UK’s Dwarf Athletics Association quoted in a BBC special report on what disabled people do for exercise he says, “I find swimming and cycling are better exercise than running, although I have run a marathon in the past! Swimming and cycling are good cardio-vascular exercise, less aggressive on my joints, and less damaging on hips and spine”.

Michael Watson was a UK based middleweight boxer. He suffered brain damage during a boxing match with Chris Eubanks in 1991, leaving him in coma for 40 days.

In the same BBC special report Watson says, he starts each morning with a 15-20 minute stretch. This is followed with a 15-20 minute walk and then cycling in the gym.

Exercise Equipment for Disabled People.

We’re all accustomed to gyms and sports equipment shops and what they offer. But what was new to me was the specialist exercise equipment available for disabled people. There is a Chair Gym, not too sophisticated, but allows users to exercise their arms while in a wheel chair.

Then there is something called VitaGlide. A wheelchair user positions their wheelchair between two horizontal arms that meet at the front in the shape of a ‘V’. The arms are pulled and pushed, similar to the movement on a Cross Trainer. While wheelchair users may get exercise simply by manoeuvering their wheel chairs, this adds another dimension to their exercise routines.

Lastly, there’s the HUR Chest Press. Again catering to people bound to their wheelchair. This offers a range of exercise routines for:

-Biceps/triceps;

-Deltoids (shoulder muscle)

-Chest press;

-Push-up/pull-down

-Lateral pull.

With life’s uncertainties, you don’t know what’s round the corner. And, like the paralympic atheletes should we ever suffer a disability we should make it work for rather than against us.