Staying fit can be a fun and rewarding activity, but it can be challenging to do. Fitness training for people with disabilities can be even more challenging. This is because their bodies are different from those of non-disabled individuals, so they need to work around their limitations and adapt the program to make it accessible.
Working out to improve your fitness is an excellent practice for anyone, but it’s especially valuable for people with disabilities. Fitness training for people with disabilities is often a gateway to a better quality of life. It’s not always easy, but the rewards are great.
What’s involved in adaptive workouts?
Adapted workouts are a great way to engage in physical activity and stay healthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over one-third of adults report being inactive or hardly active during their leisure time. Fitness training can help you build muscle, improve flexibility, reduce body fat and improve overall health.
For example, people with down syndrome need adjusted workouts that cater to their physical limitations, and these workouts help them achieve their goals.
1. Mobility
To move freely without pain or discomfort is fundamental for any exercise program. As little as 10 minutes per day can help you maintain good mobility in your joints and muscles so that you don’t get injured when doing regular activities such as walking, jogging, or swimming.
2. Exercise
A balanced diet and regular exercise will help keep your weight under control by burning off extra calories so that they aren’t stored as fat instead of being used for energy production.
3. Sleep
Getting enough sleep helps reduce stress levels, leading to better overall health. Not getting enough sleep results in the production of higher levels of cortisol by our bodies after waking up for hours until going back into our beds again once we fall asleep again.
Positive mental attitude; This means having an optimistic view towards life even if things go wrong at times since this attitude could potentially lead us down paths where we learn lessons about ourselves along those lines instead
Examples of Adapted Fitness Training
One can choose various fitness plans for various workouts according to their needs. Working with an experienced trainer can be great as they can help formulate the best-adapted workouts for each individual. Some of the incorporated exercises include:
- You can do a single-leg squat with your partner, who holds up one leg
- Do an overhead press with your partner to help you increase the load and make it more challenging
- Hold a weight in front of you while balancing on one foot, then switch feet for balance as you lower it back down again.
If you’re feeling adventurous, try this fun exercise; stand on one foot with your arms outstretched at shoulder level, then slowly bend forward until your hands touch the ground (this is called one rep). Then repeat 10-15 times before switching sides.
This works especially well if two people are working together—one person stands behind them while they push off their feet so that they have both feet planted firmly on the floor during this movement.
Different Types of Disabilities and How to Accommodate them
While there are programs specifically designed for people with these conditions, they all require different exercises. For example, suppose you have mobility issues or a stroke recovery after surgery. In that case, you will likely need more focused workouts than someone recovering from an injury or illness caused by running around at work all day long.
1. Workouts for People With Mobility Issues
The fitness training for people with disabilities are as follows:
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Swimming
This should be done regularly because it is a great cardiovascular exercise that tones all parts of the body, including the arms and legs. It also helps strengthen muscles used while running or walking fast on uneven surfaces (such as sidewalks). According to health experts, aquatic therapy like water yoga can greatly help improve mobility.
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Cycling/Riding Bicycle
This can be done indoors or outdoors, depending on where you live in your city/state. However, keeping track of your speed is important, so you don’t hurt yourself while riding bikes. Also, always wear protection like helmets that would protect your head and face if you collided with something hard, such as rocks or tree branches, etc.
You may also want some padding around each knee joint area since there isn’t much room between them when seated on these bicycles.
2. Workouts for People In Wheelchairs
If you have a wheelchair, your goal is to incorporate exercises that help build your upper body strength. These include things like chest stretches and seated dumbbell curl biceps reps.
3. Workouts for People With Autism
Fitness training for people with disabilities can be a complex process. You’ll want to get a qualified fitness professional involved early on, who will help you create a program tailored specifically to your needs.
The best programs are designed by professionals and meet the specific needs of the individual with autism. Studies show that this helps enhance various skill-related fitness needs, especially in young people with autism.
A good example is an exercise program called “Gait Training,” developed for people with severely impaired balance problems. This exercise aims to improve walking ability through improved balance, coordination, and strength in both legs; it also helps prevent falls and reduce joint stress by increasing joint flexibility (including hip rotation).
4. Workouts for People With Down Syndrome
You may have heard that fitness training for people with disabilities is the same for everyone else. But there are some differences to remember when you’re working out.
According to a study conducted at the University of Georgia, there are more improvements seen in people with Down Syndrome when high-intensity interval training is incorporated than any other workout method.
Here are some down syndrome physical therapy workouts that can help increase your strength and mobility, as well as improve your mental health:
Pushups
This should be done on both knees or one knee at a time, depending on your flexibility. If this exercise hurts your joints, try using towels under them or even having someone hold your hands down while you do pushups (this will help protect their wrists).
Sit-Ups
Sit-ups are another great way to work out. They focus on improving core stability by strengthening abdominal muscles and increasing flexibility throughout the spine, which means less back pain!
If these exercises don’t feel like enough for now (or if they bother you), try adding other forms of physical activity, like walking outside instead of driving everywhere daily. Take the stairs instead of elevators, hitting tennis balls into heavy bags until exhaustion sets in–the possibilities are endless.
What Are The Benefits Of Adapted Fitness Training For People With Disabilities?
Working out has many benefits, but one of the best reasons is that it can help people with disabilities improve their fitness and stamina. Fitness training for people with disabilities is often a gateway to a better quality of life and improved physical abilities. It’s not always easy, but the rewards are great.
Some of the benefits of adapted fitness training include:
1. It Improves Mobility
Fitness training helps build muscle strength in the hips, legs, shoulders, and back which can improve walking speed or agility on uneven surfaces like cobblestones or stairs. It also increases energy levels while reducing fatigue in daily life by improving stamina when performing activities such as climbing stairs without resting between steps (or even just taking one step at a time).
2. Reduces Falls
Fitness training can help you strengthen and maintain your mobility, balance and coordination, and overall health, and reduce falls by improving your core strength. These benefits can make a big difference in everyday activities, improving strength, balance, and coordination. This can help you do more things with your body and make it easier to move around on the ground.
When you’re able to stand up from a sitting position or walk longer distances without tiring yourself out, this can help protect against injuries like broken bones and concussions from falls that may occur more often in daily life (such as when getting out of bed).
3. Improves Overall Health
Regular exercise helps reduce stress levels which means people who are stressed out tend not to get enough sleep or eat well enough—which leads directly to another benefit: improved mental health. According to a study conducted at Harvard University, this secret can be helpful for everyone, whether they have physical limitations or not.
4. Physical Independence
Various workouts like down syndrome occupational therapy help teach people with special needs how to do things independently. These workouts strengthen one’s muscles and help empower people with needs with the mindset to achieve anything they set their minds to.
5. Improves Your Mood
Exercise can help you feel better about yourself, improve your self-esteem and make you feel more confident in social situations. Improves sleep quality. Getting enough sleep is important for mental health and physical well-being, but it can be hard if you’re always tired or stressed out.
6. Balance
The ability to control body position when standing still is essential for safely reaching high places or climbing stairs. But if you need more confidence in this area, fitness classes may be an ideal way to improve your balance first. You might find yourself modifying how much weight is put onto each foot during exercise so that one foot doesn’t tip over into another direction.
This can be more challenging if you can’t balance yourself properly while doing certain things like dancing around furniture etc., where there is no room between furniture legs. If you suffer from chronic pain or fatigue, fitness training may help alleviate its impact on your day-to-day life.
7. Alleviates Pain
Most people with disabilities tend to experience physical pain from the effort of doing everyday tasks. These often interfere with daily activities such as work, schoolwork, and family activities. Learning to work out around these physical limitations can greatly help alleviate such pains. A study conducted showed promising signs of exercise helping reduce pain severity in people with conditions that resulted in chronic pain.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about some benefits of fitness training for people with disabilities. Remember, there is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to adapting exercises, so be sure to consult your doctor or therapist if they have any suggestions. Be sure to check out our branch near you if you’re looking for a “down syndrome therapy near me,” and sign up to claim your free 7 day pass!