Did you know that almost 20% of Americans have some sort of disability? If you or a loved one use a wheelchair, it can be easy to feel held back by your ability to stay fit. The good news is that maintaining an active lifestyle in Cartersville is something that everyone can accomplish, it simply requires a different strategy.

Knowing how to stay fit will help promote independence and make daily tasks more manageable. This guide will go over three tips for maintaining an active lifestyle in a wheelchair. You’ll be able to build up your confidence while navigating your physical and mental health.

1. Perform Cardiovascular Activities

There’s a misconception that people who use a wheelchair can’t exercise. This simply isn’t true. Chair-bound exercises are ideal for people with lower-body injuries or disabilities.

Cardiovascular chair exercises can help reduce back pain and improve posture. It also alleviates body sores that are caused by sitting in the same position for too long. You can get a quick workout done while watching television in your Cartersville home.

Try to choose a chair that allows you to keep your knees at 90 degrees when seated. Also, securely apply the brakes or otherwise immobilize the chair.

Chair aerobics are a series of seated repetitive movements that will raise your heart rate and help burn calories.

With just a lightweight resistance band under your chair, you can do exercises like chest presses. Try a variety of exercises to start, with 20 to 30 reps per exercise, and gradually increase the number of exercises, reps, and total workout time when you feel comfortable.

If you don’t have a resistance band, no worries. Simple air-punching is an easy cardio exercise from a seated position.

There are plenty of health clubs that offer pool-therapy programs with access for wheelchair users. Some gyms offer wheelchair-training machines. There are many ways to get active.

2. Include Muscle Strengthening Exercises

Building up significant physical strength if you’re in a wheelchair isn’t a difficult task. The repeated motion of pushing around a wheelchair already helps your chest and shoulder muscles. Consequently, you might notice that your back muscles are under-worked, which can cause an imbalance of strength.

The right muscle-strengthening exercises can chance that imbalance. You’ll want to perform exercises that actively incorporate the back muscles while still affecting the upper arms. This results in easier wheelchair pushing and it contributes to overall upper-body fitness.

Let’s take a look at three strength-building exercises you can start with.

Tummy Twist

Sit up straight with your feet flat on the ground and abs engaged. Hold your arms up at a 90-degree angle, with your elbows at your side. Rotate your upper torso to the left, back to the center, and to the right.

Knee Lifts

Once again, you’ll sit up straight with your feet flat on the ground and abs engaged. Slowly lift your right leg, bending your knee in a marching motion. Now lift your leg as high as you can comfortably go, lower your foot back to the floor and repeat with the other leg.

Continue to repeat this motion, be sure to alternate legs. If you want more intensity, pause for 2-10 seconds at the top of the movement.

Toe Taps

Sitting up straight with your abs engaged and feet on the ground, tilt your toes up towards the ceiling and then back down to the floor. Repeat several times.

If you want something more intense, raise one leg in the air so it’s straight out in front of you, keeping the other foot flat. Then tilt your toes up and down several times. Lower your foot back down and repeat with the other leg.

3. Set Goals and Stay Positive

What is an active lifestyle in Cartersville? It simply means that you do physical activity throughout the day.

If you’re in a wheelchair, you may have minimal experience performing regular exercise routines. It’s difficult to stay committed to them and knowing where to begin can be daunting.

One way to combat this obstacle is to create multiple small goals that are challenging but not impossible to attain. You want to have faith that you’ll accomplish them. Setting goals is a great way to add structure to your routine and get excited about the process you’ll make over time.

It’s easy to get frustrated by how far you might have to go to accomplish these goals, but it’s important to stay positive. Think about how exciting it will be to know you achieved what you set out to do. Once you’re near the finish line, you can start outlining new goals to reach.

It’s a common misconception that a wheelchair lifestyle means that exercise is off the table. There is plenty you can do to feel stronger than ever.

Maintaining an Active Lifestyle in Cartersville in a Wheelchair

It’s no secret that accessibility is a problem, most cities are not built with wheelchair users in mind. This can leave many people with disabilities frustrated. Although there is only so much that can be done in terms of accessibility, there is one thing that wheelchair users have control over: living an active lifestyle.

Knowing how to be fit and healthy can improve your mood and physical well-being. It also helps reduce the risk of developing problematic health conditions. It’s important to stay active if you use a wheelchair in Cartersville, and these tips can help guide you.

Looking for reliable mobility devices and services? You’ll want to check out all the products and services that Freedom Mobility Center Inc. has to offer.