Contents
Six exercises for people with reduced mobility
Fitness
Injury, disability or illness should not limit the goal of achieving a healthy and active life. In fact, there are exercises for all kinds of conditions.
Keep physically active It can present a great challenge for those with limited mobility or who find that using a wheelchair makes it difficult for them to participate in traditional ways of playing sports. In Spain, there are 2,5 million people with reduced mobility and 74% of them, 1,8 million, need help to get out of their homes, so exercising becomes almost mission impossible.
However, there are exercises that can be done at home and that are designed and adapted to your needs. Whether it is those dedicated to strengthening the muscles of both the upper and lower extremities, how specifically to increase flexibility or to accelerate your heart with cardiovascular exercises, there are many options to choose from. What is needed, according to Miquel Romaguera, head of Promotion of the Catalan Sports Federation for People with Physical Disabilities (FCEDF), which collaborates with Olimfit, is to have a “desire”.
«The first thing you need to start exercising is to have a positive attitude. If one is positive, the results and physical and mental improvements will go hand in hand. On the other hand, at a second level and when choosing the type of physical activity, there are activities only aimed at improving health and other more competitive ones, so defining the objective would be very interesting ”, says the expert. In the event that we only want to improve health, we could bet on the water activities, according to account, that they are very complete, or the practice of other sports such as slalom, basketball or rugby very interesting to practice as a team. However, if the person wants to compete, they could find out from the federations and adapted clubs about schedules, conditions and requirements to access the physical activity in question.
Sport for people with reduced mobility, says Miquel Romaguera, it is an opportunity for leisure, fun and improvement for your body and mind: «There are countless exercises for the different muscles of our body and all of them can be adapted according to the degree of mobility. The important thing is to be able to stay active and work for our well-being.
From the virtual gym and wellness of Olimfit, which already has 4.800 users and with which it has managed to stop its losses by 14%, explain the importance of working the different muscle groups for different purposes. “There are videos on the platform that explain different ways of working the different muscle groups and that improve gait, traction and balance within the general mobility of the body,” says Miquel Romaguera.
Exercises for people with reduced mobility
On the other hand, the head of the FCEDF indicates an exercise routine designed specifically for this group of people:
Arm exercises– Keep your arms extended on either side of your body and begin moving them in a circle in one direction for 30 seconds to a minute, and then reverse the direction of your circle for the same period of time. Keep doing this several times in a row. You can also move your arms up and down or back and forth, and insert weights as you perform the movements. You can also use a rubber band for resistance when doing your exercises.
In this type of exercise, weight could be included as long as strength is an objective: “It all depends on the purpose for which we do the exercise. If the purpose is to improve strength, it would be interesting to use a certain weight, while if the purpose is to stay active, improving health can be done with bands, with own resistance… It is not necessary that it be with weight, ”Miquel clarifies.
Leg exercises: it would be very interesting to do them with an elastic band or a resistance band. Place your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart and at a 90-degree angle. Wrap the band around your legs and tie it just below the knee. Sit up straight and hold onto the edge of your seat as you begin to pull your knees away from each other. Keep pressing for 60 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds. Do this four times.
Flexibility exercises– There are many ways to increase flexibility, including from a chair. Taking the time to stretch can be great for our bodies and help us feel better overall. For example, to stretch the arms, we raise one of them over the head, we bend the elbow so that the hand touches the nape of the neck; while, with the other arm, we stretch the elbow back to extend the triceps. We hold for 15-25 seconds, we change arms. We repeat twice.
stretches: sitting in our chair, we can place both hands on the head. We grasp the left wrist with the right hand and bend to the right to stretch the left side of the body. We hold a few breaths, then we return to the center and do the same to the other side, holding the right wrist with the left hand. We can also do some head turns, just spinning in a circle in one direction for a few seconds and then reversing the circle to go the other direction.
Yoga– Practicing this teaching from India is not only a great way to stretch and increase flexibility, it also helps to relax the body and mind, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood. Being in a wheelchair or having limited mobility does not mean that you cannot do yoga.
Cardio– Cardiovascular exercises are important to your overall health and well-being. If there is a cardiovascular exercise that you think might interest you, find out if there is an adapted version. For example, if you would like to start boxing, you can ask if any of the coaches will be willing to work on an adapted version of boxing. You could even do a Zumba class, following the movements of your arms and upper body while sitting in your chair. Think about what you would like to try and see if there are options available.
As for training in pairs, these people can do it too. As Miquel Romaguera says, as with all sports, modalities, exercises, movements, etc., these would have to adapt to the mobility conditions of the participants: “The possibility exists and, in fact, sports such as tennis or adapted paddle tennis are played in pairs,” he concludes.