Exercise is important for EVERYBODY.

It comes as a surprise to some families that exercise is important for their family member with a disability. You can be disabled and healthy at the same time.A major problem for people with disabilities on the reservations is obesity. Being overweight often comes from not having enough exercise.

The same advice that applies to any exercise program relates to people with disabilities.

Set reasonable goals. If you have never exercised before, don’t start out thinking you are going to start walking ten miles a day. Even if you some how manage to walk those ten miles, you are going to be so sore that you will hate walking and not exercise again for six months. Maybe you want to start walking half a mile. Do that every day for a week. Increase it to three-quarters of a mile the next week.

Stretch. Increase your flexibility as well as your strength.

To benefit from exercise, you need to do it regularly. You are not going to exercise regularly unless you like it, or, at least, don’t hate it. If you try walking and it bores you to death, try biking, or try walking with a friend.

Exercise with your family. Walk with your child. Do sit-ups together. Go swimming at the casino.

Change your workout. You can walk some days and bike other days. Some days you might want to take a half-mile jog and other days a slow one mile walk.

Get exercise as part of your regular day. Do sit-ups during commercials. Go for a walk at lunch or on your coffee break.

Almost everyone should be able to get some form of exercise. A few resources to keep in mind for people with significant physical disabilities are:

The website of the National Center on Physical Activity sometimes gets a little too cheerful for my tastes, but they make a lot of good points.

Range of motion exercises - which can be done either independently or with assistance.

Walking - a simple, important exercise for absolutely everyone.

Obesity - the effects of being very overweight are serious. Not enough exercise is one of the factors in obesity.

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