Exercise and Activities for Kids with Physical Disabilities

In one of my recent videos, we talked about all of the reasons that exercise is important for kids and teens, as well as, the daily exercise recommendations made by the American Academy of Pediatrics. I will link that video right here if you would like a more comprehensive discussion on the topic. But the basics are this, all children and teens need daily vigorous exercise to keep their bodies healthy. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:

  • 30 minutes of “tummy time” and other interactive play during the day for infants.

  • At least 3 hours of physical activity per day, or about 15 minutes every hour they are awake, for kids ages 3-5. One of those hours should be moderate to vigorous exercise.

  • At least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days of the week for kids over 6.

We need to make exercise a priority in our day because it strengthens the cardiovascular system which includes our heart and lungs, strengthens our muscles, keeps our bones healthy, and improve our focus and mental health.

Does any of this basic information change when we talk about kids and teens with physical disabilities? The simple answer is No. Every person needs physical activity to maintain a healthy body and mind.

As a physical therapist a huge part of my job is to provide all kids and teens with the ability to access exercise and movement activities. I get to be their cheerleader and problem solver helping them figure out the safest and most fun way to exercise. Depending on a child’s strengths and physical limitations the activities I recommend may look a little different than the activities I recommend for kids without physical limitations, but their purpose is the same: to exercise the body in a safe way that improves cardiovascular health, increases strength and flexibility, and encourages fun.

As I said in my previous video, when we think about getting in that 60 minutes of exercise it doesn’t have to be all at once. In fact, when we sprinkle small sessions of 5-10 minutes throughout our day I find that it creates a pattern of increased activity throughout the entire day.

Kids and Teens that Use Walkers, Crutches or Canes for Mobility

  • Walking in and of itself is a great form of exercise. The amount of effort expended and calories burned is more than like far higher than those burned by someone who does not use a device for mobility. If you want to ramp up the difficulty simple ways to do that are increasing the speed, walking up hill, over uneven surfaces, or even when pushing a heavy load like a shopping cart.

  • Adaptive Bikes allow you to get some great strengthening and cardiovascular work without the wear and tear that walking may cause to your joints.

  • Swimming is one of my favorites and that’s because it provides resistant to your entire your body in an environment that is easy on the joints. And many kids and teens with movement limitations find a huge sense of freedom in the water.

  • You can use a stable support surface like the kitchen counter to do numerous different leg strengthening exercises like side-stepping, toe raises, marching, kick backs for your glutes, and on and on.

  • If you happen to have a therapy bench at home, playing a card or board game in a position like tall kneeling or half kneeling really works on your hip and lower core muscles.

  • You can also get great workout in sitting. There are seated workout videos on YouTube that can give you a variety of different strengthening activities. I have an entire playlist on my channel made up of seated workout which I will link here. All of these workouts are quick, 5-10 minutes, so you can use them as a break during your day. In the sitting position you can focus your workout on cardiovascular activities like arm pumps, punches, upper cuts, etc. You can also work on strengthening muscle groups including the trunk and increasing flexibility with yoga poses.

Kids and Teens that Use Wheelchairs for Mobility

  • Supportive walking devices like a Rifton Gait trainer are the most common activity that my high school students enjoy during adaptive PE. As with our last group of students, walking in this kind of device takes a lot of work and can really get your heart pumping.

  • Again adaptive bikes and swimming are a great way to get a whole body workout.

  • If your child or teen is comfortable on the floor, taking a chance to get out of the chair and stretch out on the floor is a great place to exercise. I have worked with several kiddos that thought rolling as fast as they could from end to end on the mat was a lot fun, especially when I would time them to see if they could do it faster each time. Playing games while on their belly in what we call the prone position is great for improving head, neck, and upper trunk control.

  • Seated exercise again are a great way to workout. And by doing exercises in your chair they not only make you stronger, but also improve your in chair mobility. And by that I’m talking about your ability to shift your weight around, get comfortable, and help with or complete transfers.

Kids with Significant Movement Limitations

Slow Things Down: You can use YouTube videos at a slower pace if that helps. There is a small cog wheel at the bottom of every video that allows you to change the speed. And if they workout music sounds a little too strange at the slower pace, then just mute it and crank up your own tunes.

  • Use a Flat Surface: You can also perform any exercise you see on a flat surface. So if the video has someone punching, then lay your hands on your tray and punch on the tray. If they are raising the roof, then put your hand on the tray and push out.

  • Free Dance: I love dancing with my students. We do it all the time. They pick the song and we all just move our bodies in any way we can. I tell them I don’t care what they do to move as long as they are moving. We do use my freeze dance video a lot because it has built in rests where we freeze but you can just use a cell phone timer and do the same thing.

  • Parents, teachers, and friends can help you move as well, but I like to encourage kids to exercise on their own in whatever way the can independently move. Being in charge of your movement and your body is empowering.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you found this post helpful! If you would like to check out a video version of this post, click here.

-Heather

Previous
Previous

How to Make a Task Box

Next
Next

How to Get Kids and Teens to Exercise