Exercise is just as important for disabled people as it is for non-disabled people, but it is more difficult for disabled people to start exercising than it is for non-disabled people because of our limitations. Disabled people are often told by doctors that we should exercise more, and I think you should make exercise part of your routine if you are able but because fitness is not accessible disabled people are less likely to be consistent in their exercise routine than non-disabled people. I have a physical disability and exercise regularly, but it is not easy because there are very few workouts that are completely accessible to me and a lot of the time, I have to figure out a way to modify exercises to accommodate my disability. Fitness needs to be accessible because if it’s not accessible disabled people will not exercise, and I don’t blame people for not wanting to exercise. Regular exercise can make life with a disability so much easier, but the problem is a lot of people don’t know how and there are not a lot of resources that show disabled people how to exercise, and fitness apps are often geared toward non-disabled people. How can we make fitness more accessible for disabled people? In this post, I am going to talk about how we can make fitness more accessible for disabled people.
Provide more modifications in workout videos- I have been exercising consistently using exercise videos since I graduated high school which was over ten years ago. I have gotten better results from YouTube workout videos than I had when I was working out solo, but it can be frustrating sometimes because not all the exercises are possible for me. The workouts I do are not designed for disabled people because it is too difficult to find a disability-friendly routine and it’s easier to do an inaccessible one and modify it for my specific. I have been working out for several years and have figured out a lot of different ways to modify exercises, but a disabled person who is new to fitness might not know that. The one thing that I noticed with a lot of workout videos is that sometimes the modifications are lacking, and there either isn’t any or if there it’s still not accessible for disabled people. I would love to see more workouts with modifications that don’t require you to get in a weird position or move your legs, because not all disabled people will be able to do that. People often assume that disabled people can’t exercise, but the reality is that only some people can’t exercise, and a lot of us want to but struggle with it because fitness is not accessible. Most people who truly need workout videos are disabled, and I don’t know why we can’t provide more modifications in workouts or show a completely different move that someone can do instead of that exercise is not possible.
Make workout apps more apps affordable– Some workout apps you can use for free, but the good ones often cost money, and I have nothing against people creating apps to make money. As a disabled person, I will never pay for a workout app because I can usually only do about half of the workouts and it’s not a worthwhile investment for me when there are free exercise videos online that I can do. I understand why creators charge to use their exercise app because it takes a lot of time and effort to create these things, and you should be rewarded for your hard work, but the problem is a lot of workout apps are expensive. I am a strong believer that in order for your service to be accessible to most people it has to be an affordable price because not everyone can afford to pay three hundred apps for workout apps. Disabled people benefit from workout apps more than non-disabled people but often we can’t afford to pay for them because disabled people do not always make a lot of money and it’s expensive. If workout apps were more affordable it would make it easier for disabled people to exercise. We could even take it a step further by having an option where you could pay less money for only some of the workouts because sometimes it’s not worth it for disabled people to pay the full price for an app.
Make yoga mats thicker– Yoga mats are great if all you are doing is some light stretching but if you want to do a core workout often, they are not thick enough. As a disabled person, I have a very sensitive tailbone, and it doesn’t take much for me to sit funny and crack my tailbone to the point it bleeds. Core workouts are so important to have in your everyday routine, but it can be difficult to do them because your standard yoga mat is not very thick and in my opinion is not sit-up material. You can find a thicker exercise mat, but I do wish they made more exercise mats thicker because I do love the designs on Yoga mats but often, they are not thick enough for me to be able to use without injury. I don’t understand why they make Yoga mats so thin because I can’t be the only one who struggles to do a sit-up on a thin mat. I wish yoga mats were thicker and more durable because I always find myself ripping mats due to a poor design.
Fitness is not accessible because people often assume that disabled people can’t exercise but that is only true for some people, and it depends on what disability you have. It would be difficult to make every workout routine completely accessible for all disabilities because not everyone will have the same needs, but it would be a step in the right direction if trainers started providing modifications that didn’t require you to lift your leg. Modifications are important to have in every workout routine, but accessibility doesn’t stop there, and we can make fitness more accessible by simply making it affordable and creating products that take people with physical disabilities into consideration and doesn’t fall apart after one use. It sometimes can be difficult for non-disabled people to make fitness accessible which is why I think it is so important to consult disabled people because non-disabled people do not know what our needs are. How do you think we can make fitness more accessible for disabled people? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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