disabled exercise

mburdg
mburdg Posts: 3
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
Great site! Glad I found it.... seems like a supportive group too!!!

OK, so I don't FEEL disabled, and I think technically I'm not - but I have to face the fact that I probably need to approach activity/fitness like I am. So that's where I need some help:

I'm male, and I have a condition with the "plumbing" that basically prevents me from stretching, exerting or doing any activity that would require over-use of muscles in the ummm "lower region". The doctor says I may live with this forever, so I need to develop a routine that enables me to break out of a sedentary lifestyle (I work out of the home on the PC all day) & burn calories to boot.

The problem is, even a brisk walk debilitates me the next day. A bike ride lays me out for the week. Running is definitely out, etc, etc. So it's gotta be major low impact to the lower body for me to endure it. I mean, I can walk the dog for 20 minutes as long as I walk as slow as old man Johnson down the street - but what is that burning? 20 calories? And not to be crude, but sex is ok for me too (50 calories!?).

So, I'm limited to upper body exercise to lose weight. I need some tips on effective workouts NOT requiring use of muscles below the waist. I'm not interested in building muscle (but wouldn't mind it by default) but more so losing weight (currently 35lbs more than I want to be). I have a stationary bike in the basement, but I only use my hands/arms (like hand cycling?)... oh don't get me wrong, I give it a good hour work out 3x a week - and the panel counter says I'm burning 400 calories, but should I cut that in half since I'm not using my legs?

any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

Replies

  • mburdg
    mburdg Posts: 3
    Great site! Glad I found it.... seems like a supportive group too!!!

    OK, so I don't FEEL disabled, and I think technically I'm not - but I have to face the fact that I probably need to approach activity/fitness like I am. So that's where I need some help:

    I'm male, and I have a condition with the "plumbing" that basically prevents me from stretching, exerting or doing any activity that would require over-use of muscles in the ummm "lower region". The doctor says I may live with this forever, so I need to develop a routine that enables me to break out of a sedentary lifestyle (I work out of the home on the PC all day) & burn calories to boot.

    The problem is, even a brisk walk debilitates me the next day. A bike ride lays me out for the week. Running is definitely out, etc, etc. So it's gotta be major low impact to the lower body for me to endure it. I mean, I can walk the dog for 20 minutes as long as I walk as slow as old man Johnson down the street - but what is that burning? 20 calories? And not to be crude, but sex is ok for me too (50 calories!?).

    So, I'm limited to upper body exercise to lose weight. I need some tips on effective workouts NOT requiring use of muscles below the waist. I'm not interested in building muscle (but wouldn't mind it by default) but more so losing weight (currently 35lbs more than I want to be). I have a stationary bike in the basement, but I only use my hands/arms (like hand cycling?)... oh don't get me wrong, I give it a good hour work out 3x a week - and the panel counter says I'm burning 400 calories, but should I cut that in half since I'm not using my legs?

    any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!
  • missy0210
    missy0210 Posts: 13
    Have you tried exercising with therabands? They are the stretchy bands used for chair exercises. Many of the gyms use them for senior chair aerobics - and they provide a great workout. I think you can find a list of exercises online to use with the band - or most bands come with instructions. Give it a try - I used them at a conference and fell in love with them.
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,788 Member
    I know the classes are full of women...but have you thought about water aerobics? Or maybe just swimming? You could use a float on your lower body and just swim with your arms. Most YMCAs have pools and aren't too expensive. I've seen reclining bicycles in my neighborhood that are arm driven - that might be fun if you have the money for one.

    Sad to say but calorie burn is most effective with the larger muscle groups - your legs and glutes, so you are going to have a hard time burning calories.

    Good luck to you.
  • mburdg
    mburdg Posts: 3
    helpful tips - thanks very much.

    Those therabands are dirt cheap - and easy to do when catching the evening news.

    The swimming idea is a good one too - but mostly a summer exercise since I live in a rural area and a 45 min commute in the winter blizzard would make me burn a hundred calories of stress (LOL).
    At any rate... I wondered if reclining bikes were even made, but I always assumed that the systems I've seen were really "row machines" which do require entire body work. Am I mistaken? Because if they really do make stationary bikes that work like the "hand cycles" I've seen wheel-chair bound folks use - then I'm in!

    ...and you're right - I'm in for a tough road ahead with not being able to use the lower body region. I'm up for it tho!
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,788 Member
    They do make those. I've seen them at gyms. The bike I was referring to was an outdoor bike - and I've seen more than one of those as well.
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