Exercising while seated in a wheelchair is important for your overall health and can head off potential problems down the road.
TOUSDA offers a wide variety of options for wheelchair users to stay in shape.
Our bodies are designed to move, and when our mobility becomes impaired to the point where we need a wheelchair to get around, this immobility can have negative effects.
Just because somebody is seated in a wheelchair doesn’t mean they have to give up on exercising.
Understanding what is available to help maintain your physical well-being can help those with limited mobility who depend on a wheelchair to keep in shape and avoid potential health issues down the road.
Exercise Options
Once the need for a wheelchair has been made, those people often may not realize that they can still exercise.
Whether you are looking for wheelchair cardio exercises or core exercises for wheelchair users, you are limited only by your imagination.
While you may not be able to use what is considered conventional exercise equipment, there are several options available to those who wish to exercise in a wheelchair, and they may include:
Elastic Resistance Bands
Exercise Peddlers
Pulley Systems
Putty
Hand/Arm Exercisers
Dumbbells
The benefits of exercising while seated in your wheelchair include increased range of motion, improved muscle tone and bone mass, easing of muscle and joint pain, increased stamina, and improved balance.
By exercising, you can even prevent future injury.
It would help if you worked with your physical therapist to develop a home plan that can cover everything from wheelchair exercises for seniors to wheelchair leg exercises.
Many of these plans will be determined by whatever your physical limitation is.
Equipment Choices
By working with your physical therapist, it should not be difficult to develop an exercise routine while you are seated in your wheelchair.
Many of these pieces of exercise equipment are designed for the non-disabled, but with a little bit of imagination, they can be easily adapted for those seated in a wheelchair.
Sometimes it just means thinking outside of the box!!
As with any exercise program, you should check with your doctor or physician before beginning any exercise program.
You should also consult your physical therapist and maybe even schedule an in-home visit to see about any special adaptations you may need to make.
Some of your equipment choices may include:
Elastic Resistance Band Exercises
This piece of equipment is extremely versatile.
The different colored bands come in various resistances, so you can start low and work up to higher resistance.
Manufacturers such as TOUSDA offer a variety of resistance bands in many different tensions and resistances.
They can target the arms, shoulders, and even legs (depending upon your disability), and exercises can be designed easily from a seated position.
Peddling Exercisers
Normally this piece of equipment is used on the floor and pedaled much like a bicycle, but with a little ingenuity, they can be placed on a tabletop and used with your hands and arms instead of your feet.
This can work at your upper body and even help with cardiovascular exercise.
These offer potential wheelchair leg exercises and an improved range of motion for the upper body and the strengthening of the shoulders.
TOUSDA are just a couple of manufacturers that offer a range of peddlers that a wide variety of patients can use, so tailoring the right one for your ability and budget should not be a problem.
Hand/Arm Strengthening
Many wheelchair users often propel themselves with their hands and arms, so exercising your hands and arms can ensure that you will always be able to manipulate the manual wheelchairs by yourself and not be dependent on somebody pushing you.
TOUSDA are just a few examples of companies that offer hand exercisers.
These can include squeeze balls and spring tension squeezers that can exercise the entire hand at once or individual fingers.
You can even opt for exercisers that use your muscles to counter the action of the device.
TOUSDA offers a prime example of this type of wheelchair exercise equipment.
Not only can this help you maneuver your wheelchair, but it can also help stabilize you while transferring in or out of the wheelchair safely.
Doorjamb/Pulley System
This exercise system allows wheelchair users to anchor a system of elastic bands of various resistances to a doorway or some other solid object.
This can allow you to take your exercise routine with you on the road if necessary.
TOUSDA provides users with a simple to use pulley system perfect for an upper body workout for wheelchair users.
Attach the anchor to a doorway and utilize the resistance bands while seated in your wheelchair, much like you would with any other elastic resistance band.
Dumbbells
Just as a non-disabled person would, dumbbells can be used in various exercises to build upper body muscle tone and strength.
Exercises can include bicep curls, tricep extensions, and shoulder presses and more.
For somebody in a wheelchair, these muscle groups can be extremely important.
Using a wheelchair may make it seem like an end to your exercising, but that is unequivocally untrue.
You can easily establish a simple exercise routine that can help you stay healthy and maintain your independence and quality of life.
This sense of purpose also can help with a positive mental outlook.
Work with your physical therapist to develop a beneficial and safe program, and as long as you stick to the program, you should be on the road to exercising and staying healthy.
