[Lucydog]

Ive realised that over the last couple of years Ive gotten to the point whereby I hardly take any exercise anymore. Its a pity because I did use to enjoy a decent cardiovascular workout, but apart from wheeling from A to B thats about it. I do use the gym from time to time but thats mostly weights, I want to mke sure my heart stays in good shape.

I was thinking of either getting a hand bike or a racing chair for after the baby is born. We live in a nice part of the countryside with some good quality cycle tracks that I could use. I like the challenge, and also the good feeling you get when you finally make it up that hill!
Im not mad on swimming to be honest as Ive never been any good at it.

So I was wondering what if any regular exercise everyone takes, and if you have any further sugesstions for me. As I live nowhere near a city, its not much of an option to join anything, so we are looking for more solitary pursuits.
thanks
L

[juls]

Hey Lucy,

What about tae boe? (sp?) It's a cardiovascular work out, that's high energy and alot of fun. If you're not close to a gym that does it, you can buy the dvd's from a sports store and do it at home.
They do leg workouts as well, but I just fill in with arm exercises. The work out lasts for about 30 min..it's hard at the start but it gets easier!!

[EmHope]

Hey,

I do these two machines 3 times a week and am hoping to get a handcycle too. Look into these they both are a really great workout and the FES bike keeps your leg muscles working!

http://www.restorative-therapies.com/All%2...RT300/rt300.htm

http://www.southwest...easy-stand.html

Good Luck!

[gsp23]

I have a home gym and lift weights 3x a week. I currently play Sled Hockey (Sledge Hockey for anyone outside the US) which is not only an awsome upperbody workout but awsome cardio too. They make wheel kits to adapt to sleds too if you want to use the same type of setup for floor hockey or even for wheeling around on roads for exercise. In the summer I intend to start canoeing or kayaking as I live on a lake and thought about getting into my peddle boat with a trolling motor and strapping my feet to the peddles to get my legs moving a bit

I live in a rural area and take my chair out around the neighborhood which is a lot of work because there are a lot of hills and its dirt roads. There is a basketball court about 15 miles away from me in another small rural area that I plan to go and shoot some hoops when things warm up. I have no intentions of playing basketball in any organized manner but maybe playing with my neices, nephews, boyfriend, whatever. Or even going by myself and just throwing the ball around. I am trying to build up muscles now for getting a chair out in the field in the spring because along with Sled Hockey, hunting with my dog is one of the most important things to do for recreation. So, I plan to bring my chair out to bike paths ect and just go cruise around vs getting a handcycle, but thats just me to suit my specific needs.

[GreenwoodSC]

I use dumbells and the 6 second ab machine plus elastic bands my therapist gave me

[chimneygirl]

HI L,

I have a hand cycle on a roller, I have one at home, in the garage, and my local gym allow me to leave my other one set up in their aerobics studio, so i can join in when they do spinning classes.
I actually just cycle in any class that has fast music, the aerobics class etc.

I find i do more work when i go to a class as i feel i have to do the full hour.
I usually do about 40 miles a week, 4 hours.
Plus i do a few weights and sit ups, as i am only a T12 i feel guilty not using the ads ive been spared!

Go for it girl!
All the best Michelle

[mulepower]

I'm going to an athletic club several times a week trying to lose weight. I'm up to 25 minutes on a hand cycle and doing four laps on the inside track. Yeah,its not even a mile,so that shows what pathetic shape i'm in lol. I don't have the things on the wheels to roll faster,so its harder to push off and around.


My neurologist,Dr. Tingler, wanted me to have pool therapy.Since i have incontinence issues,they can't do it. The therapist even asked his instructor in Texas if she had any ideas,nada. There's a good chance i'd urinate accidently,heck even when i could swim, water causes you to pee a lot,so if that happened they would need to empty the pool. What amazes me is they must not deal with complete paralyzed folk very offten or they may have had a better solution then just no. Its something i wanted because i can't imagine the joy of being vertical in the water again and how good it must feel. I don't know if i'm even losing weight since they don't have a roll up weigh scale.

[edlee]

I don't understand the part about peeing in the pool causing them to drain the pool. If they have ever had anyone under 15 in the thing it has already been peed in, whether they were incontinent or not. My thought would be to cath before going in. As much as I leak, even I cango an hour or so without a problem. A little pre planning on your part and a little reality check on their's should do the trick. If all else fails, simply tell them that you are no longer incontinent. HOW THEY GONNA KNOW!!!!!!???????

I'm going to try my first dip Wednesday. I'll let you know how it went.

[RacingAxe]

mulepower, on Apr 23 2007, 04:14 PM, said:

My neurologist,Dr. Tingler, wanted me to have pool therapy.Since i have incontinence issues,they can't do it. The therapist even asked his instructor in Texas if she had any ideas,nada. There's a good chance i'd urinate accidently,heck even when i could swim, water causes you to pee a lot,so if that happened they would need to empty the pool. What amazes me is they must not deal with complete paralyzed folk very offten or they may have had a better solution then just no. Its something i wanted because i can't imagine the joy of being vertical in the water again and how good it must feel. I don't know if i'm even losing weight since they don't have a roll up weigh scale.

I was told that urine in general is sterile. If you don't have a UTI it shouldn't be much of an issue. If that is the case, I'd go with edlee's advice. Cath before you go in and don't worry about it.

I was worried about incontinence myself but didn't have a problem. I only went three times for therapy in the pool but it did feel pretty good to be in the water. My muscles didn't respond like I'd hoped but I'm glad I had the chance.

[Big Valley]

Besides the general weight lifting I have a home hand cycle I built. Just find a cheap exercise bike at a garage sale or someplace and remove all the unneeded stuff. Swap the pedals for hand grips and there you go.



Here is mine. I built the stand to but a table can work just as easily.









I have also found the Total Gym to be a good cardio workout. I lay on it and cross my legs so they are right at the bottom of the pad. Then do all sorts of different arm movements. Gives you a good stretch, strength, and cardio workout. Pretty fun too.









I also would suggest a Nintendo Wii. I play lots Tennis on that thing and have a great time. It can really get you out of breath when you get good at it and have a match go on for a while. Also fun for multi player family stuff. My 50 year old mother loves to play it and so does my 4 year old niece.

[mephibosheth]

Haha oh yeah I'm very tempted to get a Wii!
A friend of mine has one & we play boxing... afterwards we're both wrecked! Tis humuliating though, geting beaten up by a 4'5" girl

I've been recently going to the gym 3 days a week, as I've just managed to weasel my way onto the state Murderball team (they must be desperate ) & my endurance is far from great.
I've found that attaching a weights pulley from one of the machines to the back of my chair & just pushing 10m forwards & rolling back repetitively is VERY tiring, so it must be good, right?

Apart from that, get into sufing! Seriously!
I got a cheap Malibu & stuck some foam 'rails' along the sides & I can balance & steer pretty well. Just need a couple of people to carry me in, push me onto some waves, & search for me when I go under... tis a bit scary, but they've managed to find me every time so far ;) Got some video footage of the method around somewhere, I'll try to dig it up

[mulepower]

edlee, on Apr 23 2007, 04:57 PM, said:

I don't understand the part about peeing in the pool causing them to drain the pool. If they have ever had anyone under 15 in the thing it has already been peed in, whether they were incontinent or not. My thought would be to cath before going in. As much as I leak, even I cango an hour or so without a problem. A little pre planning on your part and a little reality check on their's should do the trick. If all else fails, simply tell them that you are no longer incontinent. HOW THEY GONNA KNOW!!!!!!???????

I'm going to try my first dip Wednesday. I'll let you know how it went.

The health issues is what i'm being told as to why i can't.Cathing beforehand won't change that. The facilities in this area can't provide pool therapy to a complete sci.To many people use the pool and there isn't one specalized for those in our situation. I guess i'm stuck.

How was getting in the water?

[itsjustme]

Quote

Big Valley Posted Apr 24 2007, 04:51 AM I have a home hand cycle I built. Just find a cheap exercise bike at a garage sale or someplace and remove all the unneeded stuff. Swap the pedals for hand grips and there you go.

That is such a good idea. Exercise equipment, ie. bikes, are just almost giveaways at the auctions that we go to. I had an exercise bike and I gave it away before I became paralyzed because all I used at home was my treadmill.

I've been on Weight Watchers for about 4 months and I've been exercising with weights. I lift 5 days a week and someone told me that I shouldn't do it that often but if that's all that I can exercise shouldn't I exercise?

I've done 400 crunches everynight since I've been out of rehab. I started in the hospital doing sets of about 15 and worked my way up to sets of 100 so I just kept it up faithfully.

*Just a note-I wasn't convinced that I could lose weight in this chair but WW is working great for me, easy, variety, no gimmicks, just portion control really.

[Big Valley]

itsjustme, on Apr 27 2007, 05:00 PM, said:

I've been on Weight Watchers for about 4 months and I've been exercising with weights. I lift 5 days a week and someone told me that I shouldn't do it that often but if that's all that I can exercise shouldn't I exercise?

Nothing wrong with lifting 5 days a week. You just don't want to to do the same workout everyday. Worked muscles need rest to heal or you are wasting your time.



I lift 4 times a week and do 4 different workouts. I do Triceps one day, Shoulder and traps, then chest, then Biceps. Each work out has about 3 exercises that target those specific muscles and I do 5 set of 6-10 rep and heavy as I can go with slowly decreasing weight. If you can't get 6 it is to heavy and if you can do more than 10 it is to light. Usually I do two days straight lifting then one day off. Like Mon, Tues. and Thurs, Fri. If you put in full effort for those shorter workouts you will be spent in no time.



Anything you have heard about less weight and more reps to "tone" is not true and old school weight training thinking.



To lose weight it is less calories and more cardio. Pretty much eat less move more.



To build strength it is more calories and heavy lifting lots of rest. But stay away from high carb food. Pasta, potatoes, and lots of bread. Protein and complex carbs are the best.

[dom]

Lucydog, on Mar 11 2007, 11:22 PM, said:

Ive realised that over the last couple of years Ive gotten to the point whereby I hardly take any exercise anymore. Its a pity because I did use to enjoy a decent cardiovascular workout, but apart from wheeling from A to B thats about it. I do use the gym from time to time but thats mostly weights, I want to mke sure my heart stays in good shape.

I was thinking of either getting a hand bike or a racing chair for after the baby is born. We live in a nice part of the countryside with some good quality cycle tracks that I could use. I like the challenge, and also the good feeling you get when you finally make it up that hill!
Im not mad on swimming to be honest as Ive never been any good at it.

So I was wondering what if any regular exercise everyone takes, and if you have any further sugesstions for me. As I live nowhere near a city, its not much of an option to join anything, so we are looking for more solitary pursuits.
thanks
L

hi l, yeah i know what you mean,i was always a lazy so and so, but i did do the usual things run for a bus,go for a trek etc post accident i got into my sedentary mode and have found myself in a rut when it comes to excercising,i think the first month or so is very difficult to get into a routine,but it does'nt matter how little you start,you can gradually build it up and feel a lot better for it xx dom