When you use a wheelchair, physical fitness and exercise isn’t your top priority – but it should be. Getting active is vital to your health and wellbeing, and can also help you to manage your daily life more easily. As a wheelchair user, you can face particular fitness and exercise challenges, but whatever your preferences and level of physical ability, there will be options that are right for you. Regular aerobic exercise and strength training is just as important for your wellness as it is for other adults’, and there are many reasons why you should get active.
Not only is regular physical activity is good for your physical and mental health, but is can also help you to meet new people. YMCAfit specialist tutor Philip Gill, who specialises in training fitness professionals who work with wheelchair users and people with other disabilities, argues there are a range of reasons why getting active is important for wheelchair users. ‘Using a wheelchair can make it more difficult to do cardiovascular physical activity that raises your heart rate and makes you warm enough to break a sweat,’ Gill notes. ‘This kind of exercise is important for the health of your heart and lungs. Missing out on this kind of exercise can contribute to weight gain over time.’ He adds, ‘Manoeuvring or pushing a wheelchair can also put particular strain on certain muscles in the upper body, making strains or other injuries more likely. Muscle-strengthening exercises can help you to manage your wheelchair in daily life, and avoid these kinds of injuries.’
According to the Department of Health, if you’re aged between 19 and 64, you need to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-level aerobic activity a week, and muscle-strengthening activity on two or more days a week, albeit these guidelines are designed for non-wheelchair users. However, Gill says these general guidelines can help you too. ‘In the absence of specific guidelines, wheelchair users can compare their activity levels to the general guidelines for adults,’ Gill asserts. ‘Many wheelchair users will not be doing anywhere near that volume of physical activity. If that’s you, then see these guidelines as a goal, which you should take small steps towards. Remember: even small increases in physical activity will bring health benefits.’
The question remains, however; what kinds of exercise can you do when you’re in a wheelchair? Gill explains this will depend on your fitness levels and the types of activity in which you are interested, as well as your personal goals. ‘Your aim might be to improve certain aspects of physical function, to help with daily life,’ says Gill. ‘Or you may be seeking improved fitness, or involvement in competitive sport. Whatever your level of physical ability and confidence, there are activities you can do to improve fitness.’
‘The aim is to raise your heart rate, and be warm enough to break a sweat,’ Gill comments. ‘You should be slightly out of breath: enough that you can still hold a conversation, but not sing the words of a song. If you’re unused to exercise or you haven’t exercised for some time, aim to start with 10-minute sessions, and gradually build up towards 20 minutes.’ Try swimming, wheelchair sprinting, using a rowing machine adapted for wheelchair use or wheelchair sports, such as basketball, netball and badminton.
Muscle-strengthening exercise:
‘The repeated pushing motion that is used to push a wheelchair means that the chest and shoulder muscles can become tight and prone to injury,’ Gill warns. ‘Meanwhile the back muscles, which are not involved in this pushing motion, can become weaker, because they are never worked. Because of this, it’s a good idea to focus on exercises that work the smaller muscles that support the pushing motion, such as the shoulder muscles: this can help prevent injury. You can also strengthen the back muscles by doing exercises that involve a pulling motion.’
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