Wheelchair should not be barrier to fitness VANCOUVER
People with spinal cord injuries now have a set of exercise guidelines for maintaining heart health to match those offered to the general population decades ago.
Kathleen Martin Ginis, a researcher at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, led an international committee that recommends 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic exercise, three times a week, for people with spinal cord injuries.
That’s compared with 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise every week for others, as recommended by the World Health Organization.
Martin Ginis said the new guidelines are in addition to recommendations she helped come up with in 2011 for people with spinal cord injuries through her work at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
She presented her latest research on Oct. 26, in Dublin at the annual meeting of the International Spinal Cord Society.
People with spinal cord injuries face significant barriers when it comes to exercise, Martin Ginis said in an interview.
Gyms often exclude people with disabilities, but could accommodate them with adaptable equipment and knowledgeable staff, she said.
Martin Ginis called the Abilities Centre in Whitby, Ont., the “gold standard” of gyms because of its inclusive programming that includes arm ergometers, or socalled arm bikes, included in spin classes.
Brad Skeats, 43, works out at the Physical Activity Research Centre gym, a Vancouver facility led by researchers at the International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries, or ICORD.
His spinal cord was injured 20 years ago when he worked in a sporting goods store and a coworker ran up from behind and tried to piggy back himself for fun.
“It was a pretty crazy, flukey accident. He landed on me the wrong way and that snapped my neck.”
Skeats, who went on to compete in wheelchair racing from 2000 to 2010, has a personal trainer and works out three times a week at the dedicated gym that was built in 2012.