If you’re in a wheelchair, you may think it’s too difficult to exercise since things you may be used to just won’t work now, but that’s not the case. In fact, there are many things you can do to exercise your body and reap the rewards that exercise brings to your life.
We all keep in mind the benefits of exercise: it can reduce stress, increase flexibility and mobility, increase body awareness and muscle strength, and help maintain physical fitness. It’s also great for circulation, can stop blood clots from forming, and helps with spinal stability and posture, and let’s face it, exercise feels good and makes you feel good about yourself, mentally and physically.
Resistance training is used by professional and non-professional level athletes alike and can be modified a bit to work for those in a wheelchair as well. Best of all, resistance bands come in a variety of strengths so you can start small and build the resistance you want. Just tie one end to a doorknob or other stable object and you’ll be able to do leg and arm extensions, side bends or rowing exercises quite easily – just make sure the brakes are on before you start!
Wheelchair athletes can also strength train right from their chair, just make sure you do a proper warm up from stretches before and a proper cool down after to avoid injury. If you can, push-ups are possible from a chair. Simply use the armrests to raise your body up and gently lower it back down for five sets of repetitions. You can increase the number of sets you do as your exercise tolerance grows.
Another good exercise is an overhead stretch where you sit up straight and extend your arms up as you breathe. Close your fingers and turn your palms toward the ceiling as you exhale and push your hands back slightly. Hold for a few seconds and again, do reps of five to start. You can always increase the number whenever you want, but start small.
Free weights for bicep curls and lateral raises are also great ideas for exercising in a wheelchair. Again, start small and increase the weight as you see fit.
Never feel like you can’t exercise just because you’re in a wheelchair, with just a little modification you can do anything you set your mind to!
