Exercise can improve health for everyone disabled, including those living with disabilities. Even the simplest exercises at home with the aid of workout videos or physical activity guides can contribute to overall improvement in health ndis provider Melbourne.
Regular aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises – those which increase heart rate and induce sweat – are important components of wellness for adults, including wheelchair users.
1. Walking
Exercise for people with disabilities to boost both physical and mental wellbeing. But they may be uncertain how best to incorporate exercise into their daily lives, so creating an exercise plan and including fun, engaging and varied activities into it is vital for keeping individuals interested and motivated with physical exercise.
Disabled individuals can participate in walking exercises to strengthen their legs and build stamina, aerobics or swimming to increase endurance, cycling to build cardiovascular fitness, or swimming and cycling for improving stability, strength, flexibility and balance – which may all be done together or individually.
Upper body workouts may also prove helpful for disabled individuals with shoulder pain, such as performing bicep curls from their wheelchair.
2. Swimming
Swimming can help disabled children develop balance and coordination while simultaneously building muscle strength and endurance.
Children that participate in swimming develop better motor skills and can engage in more active games on land, while the activity helps burn calories and manage weight more effectively.
Swimming not only promotes physical fitness, but it can also boost mood by releasing endorphins and serotonin which help relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as increase self-esteem and confidence.
Water’s buoyancy reduces body weight by 80%, enabling individuals to move freely without restriction or restriction from gravity. This enables individuals to practice movement patterns that would normally be difficult on land – such as turning or changing direction – such as turning back around. Children with disabilities who attend regular swimming classes through clubs like WeSwim can enjoy improved social behaviors.
3. Cycling
An abundance of research demonstrates the positive impacts that cycling has on mobility, gait and disability for disabled people. Unfortunately, however, attitudinal and perceptual barriers still hinder disabled people’s experience and participation when it comes to cycling – many originating in deficit models of disability that translate to wider policy, infrastructure and practice barriers that disabled people face.
This current research employed semi-structured interviews with promoters and training/activity providers as well as a questionnaire survey with participants, parents/carers and instructors. The results show that most disabled people attend cycling training/activity sessions on a voluntary basis to engage in physical exercise as well as socializing – without viewing these sessions as “training”, but rather “activity”.
4. Arm Exercises
Strong arms and shoulders can help reduce pain, improve posture, protect bones, and stabilize joints – this is why it is essential to perform regular arm exercises as part of a holistic fitness regime.
To perform these exercises in your wheelchair, make sure your back is straight with both arms extended straight out on either side. Next, create circular arm movements by starting small and gradually increasing their size until your arm movement resembles that of a large circle – 12-15 repetitions should do.
Resistance bands provide another excellent arm workout. Anchor the end of the band to an object (such as your chair back or door frame ) about chest high and then grab both ends with both hands and stretch it forward while sitting tall with abs engaged.
5. Leg Exercises
Focusing on leg strength training for wheelchair users is of utmost importance. Doing so will assist with balance and improve bone mass to prevent falls, which will in turn prevent falls from happening. An accredited exercise physiologist should be able to offer you a gym workout, or you can search online for wheelchair exercises and workouts.
Some passive range of motion exercises involve non-weight bearing legs moving passively with their hands to expand range of joint movement, promote circulation and stimulate pathways between muscles and spinal cord. Such programs can help expand joint range of movement while improving circulation.
Other exercises such as toe tapping can target the anterior tibialis muscle for isometric exercise that builds tension without stretching it out. Leg curls target the back part of your leg (hamstring muscles) for increased leg strength without straining your knees.