Foot Problems and How to Prevent Them

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important for everybody, as is regular exercise. A regular exercise routine improves health, muscle control, improves circulation and prevents a majority of lifestyle diseases. This is even more important when dealing with limited mobility, either due to accidents or other disabilities.

While exercise is part of the rehabilitation process, maintaining it even after completing the recovery process is necessary. Some of the common conditions related to sedentary lifestyles are heart disease, weight gain, diabetes and neurological conditions. While exercise helps with these conditions, traditional exercise might be beyond the scope of people with limited mobility and the differently abled. Here is where adapted exercises come in. Adapted exercises are routines specially designed by fitness experts as a way for the differently abled to maintain their health and build up strength. These exercises also promote health in osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and other degenerative conditions as well.

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Categories of Adaptive Exercises

Cardiovascular Training: These exercises improve circulation, heart health and endurance. Here are a few examples of adapted cardio exercises. Good examples of these exercises are aquatic exercises, which help increase endurance and stamina due to the resistance of water. Aquatic exercises like water aerobics are a great way for people with spinal or limb problems. Wheelchair sports also help increase endurance and strength.

Upper body and core strength is really important. Training with weights, resistance bands and medicine balls help improve strength and core fitness.

Strength Training: These exercises promote muscle building and improve balance. Upper body and core strength is really important. Training with weights, resistance bands and medicine balls help improve strength and core fitness. Stomach pumps, seated crunches and seated twists are good examples of strengthening exercises. Isometric exercises also help.

Adaptive Training with a medicine ball

Flexibility Exercises: These exercises improve balance, range of motion and reduce pain and stiffness. They also make it easier to perform certain actions with difficult ranges of motion. These exercises also prevent muscle contraction. Exercises like Yoga and Pilates can be adapted to performing them from a chair.

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Precautions

For any workout, there are always precautions and steps that can prevent strain, overwork or things that can negatively affect health. These are some basic precautions to take before beginning a workout.

Consult a physician and a trainer before beginning an exercise routine. They help identify good exercises and prevent serious problems.

Start slowly and slowly increase the workout intensity to prevent unnecessary strain and injury. Don’t push past your limits too quickly. Take time to adjust before increasing your routine.

Keeping hydrated is very important as a lot of fluids are lost during exercise.

Stop exercising in case of pain and consult your physician.

Avoid exercises that can aggravate an injury.

Find a helper who can supervise and assist when you’re exercising.

The one thing to remember when exercising though, is to keep motivated. There might be times when you get discouraged, or face interruptions to your routine due to ill health or other reasons. It’s important to get back into the routine as soon as possible. So get out there and begin a workout that keeps you healthy!