Wheelchair exercise

Hi I am a 36 year old woman in a wheelchair I am at a loss for what I can do to get my heart rate up. I know I can do upper body strengthening exercises but I don’t know what I can do for cardio. Any ideas?

Replies

  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    Hihi! Here's one that was released during quarantine by an unmanageably handsome OT who happens to be using a wheelchair...

    https://youtu.be/ClU4S93LCEs

    The first 10 episodes are on his personal YouTube channel and include a range of strength, cardio, etc. In fact, episodes 1, 5, and 8 specifically mention cardio in the title.

    That said, episodes 11, 12, or 13 seem to be missing on the Internet somewhere.

    There's also an 8-week series of varying adapted exercises from around the web (including some seated dance, HIIT, etc) on the "Staying Fit While Staying Put" from the University of Michigan.

    Hope these are helpful @lizzywks ! You didn't mention whether your use of the chair was a long-term thing, but if so then you may want to reach out to a physiotherapist (PT) or occupational therapist (OT) for an individualized program.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Look for seated exercise videos on YouTube.

    There are a couple DVD series that feature seated exercise. Sit to Be Fit and Chair Dancing. Check your local library for these.
  • lizzywks
    lizzywks Posts: 17 Member
    Thanks to both for your replies. :)
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Caroline Jordan has some chair exercises on her YouTube channel
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,142 Member
    Can you use your legs at all? I've been unable to lately and the following is a playlist I made of my favorite arm cardio workouts. At the end of it are some dance routines that I try to do standing but have enough arm movement that doing them seated works too, it's still fun! There's a guy named Eugene that does wheelchair videos as well but he kinda got on my nerves and talked too much. I basically mute all of these but the dance ones and play rock to keep me going. If you want to modify or can use your legs at all KymNonStop is my favorite, I do her Cardio boxing one and it's my favorite out of all the arm videos, just modify the side kicks.

    https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL3sS7mfUxC345G9NZI2lWken_ut7A0WMp
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