If you thought that strength training exercises are meant just for sportsperson and body-builders, then you are completely mistaken. Even a person with a locomotor disability can benefit profoundly from these exercises. A person moving around with a walking aid is virtually moving using their hands and torso. Herein lies the importance of strength training so that you can move on a manual wheelchair or walk with crutches. Strength in your arms becomes necessary while using a battery-operated wheelchair so that you can shift to bed from your chair and vice versa. Various studies have revealed that our bone density starts losing once we cross teenage and this rate is greater in persons with locomotor disabilities. Keeping such things in mind, we have assembled a list of exercises that can help people with disability build their core strengths:
Wheelchair Push-ups
This simple yet effective strength training exercise can be tried out by locking your wheelchair in place so that it remains stable and doesn’t hamper your balance. After you have sat down properly and placed your hands on the wheelchair’s hand rest, try lifting your body by transferring all your weight on both your hands. You can rise up to your comfortable limit and hold your body in that position while silently counting to ten before sitting back. Ideally, you should do the wheelchair push-ups 12 times in 3 repetitions but you should go at your own pace if it seems too tough.
Sideways Shifting
Sit on the edge of the bed and keep your legs hanging to mimic sitting on a chair. Now place your hands at your side and try lifting your body slightly while shifting to your right if you are starting from the bed’s left edge and vice versa. In this exercise, you just need to lift your butt and try shifting sideways with all your body weight on your hands. This exercise is excellent for strengthening your pelvic region and arms.
Transferring with full body weight
Take a stool whose height is similar to that of your bed for doing this exercise. Alternatively, you can use a wheelchair by removing its hand rests and keeping it locked in place. Now place your hands on the table and shift completely on it. Once you have shifted to the table try coming back to your bed. If the exercise seems too easy, then you can try pushing the table a bit further and repeat the process. You can try this exercise with different degrees of height once you are comfortable shifting at similar height surfaces. This exercise increases the strength of your arms so that you can transfer yourself without any help.
Conclusion
All these above-mentioned exercises can strengthen your muscle and bones so that you can perform your daily activities without any assistance. However, dealing with disability is easier said than done. You can seek the guidance of a disability attorney who can help you in getting your rightful compensation if your disability was caused due to the fault or negligence of others.
