Sport & Freizeit

Was auch immer Sie in Ihrer Freizeit gerne tun, es gibt hier wahrscheinlich eine Geschichte darüber. Lesen Sie über Paralympianer, Sommer-Hacks, Kajakfahren & so viel mehr!

Pushing for the Paralympics: Kylie Grimes

An avid athlete and show jumper, it didn’t take Kylie long to transition into a Paralympian after a 2006 diving accident left her paralysed at C5/6 level. In 2009, only three years after her injury, she cycled 450km from Vietnam to Cambodia in order to raise money for charity, and by 2011 she was having trials for Great Britain’s wheelchair rugby team. Slotting perfectly into the team, she represented Great Britain in wheelchair rugby at the London 2012 Games, before switching to athletics for Rio 2016. In 2018, she made her wheelchair rugby comeback and last year was part of…

Brandon is a former gymnast from Cape Town, South Africa, who was involved in a training accident in 2012, when he was just 16 years old, which resulted in him suffering a C6/7 spinal cord injury. He very quickly transitioned from gymnastics to para-athletics, and within a few short years he was competing in everything from shot put and discus to wheelchair racing. However, after a Paralympian saw his potential as a track athlete, Brandon decided to focus solely on wheelchair racing; specifically the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints. It is in these events that he hopes to compete at…

With the Tokyo Paralympic start date now delayed until August 2021, a full year after they were originally slated to begin, we thought it would be a good idea to launch what we hope will be a series of articles focusing on a handful of athletes who are vying for spots on their country’s Paralympic team. In this first series of articles, we will introduce and get to know the athletes, look at their chosen sport, see what kind of training they’re doing, and also find out what effect quarantine and the delay has had on each of them… Jillian…

Gareth demonstrates a range of Theraband/resistance band exercise

We are living in unprecedented times. The entire world is on lockdown. Cinemas, pubs, restaurants, schools, gyms – all closed. And even if they were open, any person with a health related disability is being told to quarantine themselves at home for at least 12 weeks in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19. The idea of spending 3 months kicking back at home may sound appealing to some, but to many people with disabilities; it can feel like a prison sentence. For us, doing things such as taking part in sports, going to the gym or even just…

When Norma suffered a stroke, it affected the entire left side of her body, greatly reducing the strength and mobility in her arm and hand.

Damien using the General Purpose aid with his archery bow

There are very few examples of athletes who have competed in both the Olympic and Paralympic games. To be precise, or as precise as Wikipedia can be, there have only ever been 15 athletes who have represented their countries in both competitions and none who have done it so many years later. Damien Letulle aims to be number 16, and the first on the list to do it with the help of Active Hands! Back in 1996, Damien Letulle was the 23 year old rising star of French archery. Finishing 3rd at the European Championships in both the individual and team…

Towards the end of the summer we were contacted by Emily, a personal trainer living in Pensacola, Florida. Emily works for a small, non-profit gym called The 7 Project which caters specifically for clients who have physical disabilities; focussing on enhancing their day to day quality of life via fitness, nutrition and support. Emily told us how the organisation’s founder had discovered Active Hands after her injury, how our recently donated selection of gripping aids were now being used every day by clients at the gym and how she sees The 7 Project expanding in the future. This is their…

So here we are, 2020 – a new decade! But where are the hover chairs, the self-tying trainers, the robotic augmentations?! Hell, at this point I’d settle for some spasm medication that doesn’t leave me feeling like a partially deflated New Year’s Eve balloon! Yes, despite the many depictions of the futuristic society we’d all be living in by this point, it seems that some things never change and that there is only one real certainty as we start this new decade… It feels like this claim must be thrown about by a solid 75% of people whom, after having…

We were recently contacted by Lewis, a 26 year old fitness enthusiast from Romford, Essex; whose life over the past 12 years has been a rollercoaster ride of physical and emotional highs and lows. He spoke to us in depth about his condition, the depression that initially came with it, and how discovering Active Hands not only helped him overcome some of these challenges, but also allowed him to embark upon his dream career. This is his story… All his life, Lewis has been passionate about sports and keeping fit. As a child he competed in as many sports as…

After yet another awesome Instagram tag, we have been in contact with Kaitlin, a 28 year old lady from Pittsburgh, USA; who, in the space of only a couple of years, has gone from barely being able to use her left hand, to a fully fledged fitness and powerlifting enthusiast. She recently acquired an Active Hands General Purpose gripping aid and has already noticed the huge difference it has made to her fitness routine and what she is now capable of achieving in the gym. This is her story… Kaitlin was born with cerebral palsy, severely affecting the left side…