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 […]
We were recently tagged on Instagram by athlete Jillian Elwart, who was using her Active Hands General Purpose gripping aid to take on the wild white water rapids of Arkansas, North America. Through several messages back and forth, we discovered that, on top of being a mother, dog owner and paediatric prosthetist, Jillian was also
Activity: Rowing Machine Used in conjunction with: Looped Exercise Aids Beneficial for: Increasing strength in arms, shoulders and upper torso; increasing stamina and cardio; overall fitness I find the rowing machine to be a particularly useful piece of equipment and one that can actually be used from a wheelchair. The seat and slider can be
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Activity: Handbike Used in conjunction with: General Purpose Gripping Aid Beneficial for: Increasing strength in arms; increasing stamina and cardio; overall fitness Static handbike machines are great for wheelchair users and those who struggle with treadmills or regular exercise bikes, as they allow you to work up a sweat, get a good, fitness-based workout and
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Activity: Cable & pulley machines Used in conjunction with: D-Ring Aids Beneficial for: Increasing strength and muscle tone in arms and shoulders; maintaining suppleness and flexibility of joints; increasing stamina Cable and pulley machines are ideal for wheelchair users as you can often set them up at whatever height you want and do the exercises
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Activity: Weights machines Used in conjunction with: Looped Exercise Aids Beneficial for: Increasing strength, power and muscle tone in arms, shoulders and upper torso Weights machines can often be tricky for disabled gym goers to access, as most of them do not have removable seats, and so being able to use them will depend on
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Free weights are the bread and butter of many people’s trips to the gym, especially if disability has meant that ‘leg day’ is permanently skipped! When this is the case, building up strength in your arms becomes absolutely essential, as having the strength and ability to lift yourself, do various transfers and push a wheelchair can often be the difference between complete independence and having to rely on others.
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At the start of last year I wrote an article titled, ‘Getting Active With Active Hands’. It was all about promoting fitness and health; encouraging people of all abilities to get to the gym, push themselves and be as active as possible; taking inspiration from the fact that 2016 happened to be a Paralympic year.
As a competitive wheelchair racer Rob spends a lot of time training in the gym. Without his gym workouts he would not be able to compete at the world-class level that he does. Rob is not only keen on getting himself fit; he is also keen to help others get into the gym. (He even
Troy Flagg is a 37yr old man who sustained a diving accident that left him with a C6/7 spinal injury. Troy dived into a pound to cool off after playing a round of horseshoes. His dive ended in disaster as he struck his head. Before his injury Troy’s hobby was riding and maintaining his Chopper
