- Joy - wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm trying to lose some weight, and I was wondering if you all know of
> any good exercises that can be done from a wheelchair.  I'd especially
> like to focus on my abdominals and obliques.  My upper body's pretty
> toned from all the wheeling. ;)  I haven't had much luck with
> conventional exercises, since most are meant to be done standing or on
> machinery that's difficult to transfer to.  If possible, I'd like to
> avoid the expense of a personal trainer or special equipment.  I
> apologize if you get this several times, but I'm on a few lists, and I'd
> like to reach everyone at once.  Thanks a lot!
> --
>
> ~Joy~
> [log in to unmask]
> http://home.earthlink.net/~joy0823
> "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

Joy-

I'm a PT and the abs are some of my favorites.  Is there any way you
could pop for one visit with a PT to look at your posture in the chair,
show you how to do chair situps, and maybe get you a wheelchair exercise
video?  There are definitely ways to tone up  in the chair,  but they
won't lead to any weight loss.  Diet is the key to that, and aerobic
exercise like swimming (relatively easy to access to wheelchair users),
stationary biking (need to find the right bike action to fit your leg
capability) or dancing (harder to find adapted dance but more fun than
regular exericse) will make it much easier to stick to the diet.  Also,
there are health clubs that work with chair users.  There are many ways
of using the existing equipment there. It's a struggle for lots of folks
in chairs - maybe you could find a partrner to work with.

Thanks for the "stupid people" quote!