Wheelchair exercise-Make it burn!

Bally’s, the YMCA, Lifetime Fitness, getting a good workout if you have a spinal cord injury isn’t always the easiest thing. Sure, when you first get injured you get access to a physical therapy gym, but once you’re discharged, where then? This has always then a pickle for people with paralysis. Watch these videos showing how you can get a great wheelchair workout, whether at home or by using simple modifications on machines at the standard gym.

In the first video, we’re sharing what is possibly one of the BEST exercise machines to be developed for wheelchair-users (and has been getting quite the buzz) – the Wheeler’s Paramill. Sure, it costs a cool $4 k, but it can transform your exercise experience if pushing your chair long distances is how you get cardio. And it’s been making the rounds at the Abilities Expo this year (a great place to try it out).

What this very cool machine is, is essentially a treadmill for wheelchair pushing. “Leave the road behind” is their motto, and it’s not a bad idea if the roads near you aren’t the safest (or if the weather could be better). I love this invention so much! Watch this promo for the Wheeler’s Paramill

In our second video, you get a peek of Gene Bergeron’s workout – a former pro wrestler turned world renowned wheelchair body-builder who’s been a C5-6 quadriplegic since 1997 (he broke his neck while wrestling inside the ring).  In 2008, nearly 10 years after his injury, he finally decided to get involved in wheelchair bodybuilding, and he won the title  – Greater Gulf State Champion – a year later on June 21, 2008.  This guy knows what it takes to get his muscles an amazing shape.

In his video, showing his wheelchair exercise training at the gym, watch him do a series of lateral pulldowns using a universal weight machine with no hand grip at all, and he uses slick black leather gloves to attach his hands to the weights. Watch him workout, and here’s a video of his championship appearance at the 2008 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship.

And in our third video, watch Paralympian Tyler Brey work out on the seriously hardcore exercise machine, the CrossCore War Machine, made for all people, not just those with disabilities. In his video, watch him get out of his wheelchair (he’s pretty agile) and onto a mat placed in his garage underneath the CrossCore Machine.

There are long handles that you grab onto (which are attached to a weight system), that enable you to do dozens of different workouts whether staying in your wheelchair or getting out of it. Watch Tyler as he goes through a series of workouts showing how versatile the machine is (I want one!)

Remember, getting enough cardio everyday is one of the best things you can do to stay healthy, AND keep the weight off if you use a wheelchair. So, whether you like to push your chair real fast or pump some iron (I prefer chair aerobics too, but that’s just me) getting your body moving again with a wheelchair workout is a must, and don’t you forget it.

What workout machines do you like? Are they adapted or have you figured a way to make it work? What do you do for wheelchair exercise?

Watch the wheelchair exercise videos!

– The new “Wheelers Paramill”

– Quad body-builder Gene Bergeron doing lateral armpulls at the gym

– Gene at the 2008 NPC USA Wheelchair Championships

– Paraplegic using a CrossCore War Machine in his garage