Wheelchair Training Machines
Paraplegics might find getting a regular exercise routine tricky given that their everyday movement is already restricted in many ways. Despite existing physical disabilities, it remains important to continue taking part in some form of fitness regime on a regular basis so as to maintain an active, healthy lifestyle that would lift your mood up and help improve the overall quality of life. Below are three wheelchair training machines that you might want to consider having at home for regular use.
As wheelchair training machines, we feel these offer a great choice – for cardio and muscle strength!
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Invictus Active Trainer – from £799
The Invictus Active Trainer is suitable for ‘active’ manual wheelchair users who are looking to build up their upper body strength and maintain a healthy living. For a paraplegic, having stronger core muscles is critical given that a large part of your daily activities, be it pushing the wheelchair or to move from one seat to another, is powered by your arms and shoulders.
This machine is fairly straightforward to understand. Users need to wheel themselves backwards up a ramp until they hit the rollers, and then secure the wheels to the machine using the straps provided. To exercise, users simply need to push the wheelchair as per normal, and it would not be before long they would be able to their heart racing.
The Invictus Active Trainer is designed to provide resistance-training exercise through stimulating the conditions when pushing on the road. It seeks to boost overall fitness levels as well as build up arm and core muscle strength, achieve weight-loss effects and also help improve balance and stability. In order to get a good workout, the key is to maintain your training at constant speed. For starters, the challenge is to push for 5 minutes at 3mph, which is likely to make you break out in sweat!
YouBike – from £1395
The YouBikeTM is an arm and leg wheelchair training machine/bike that could be used either sitting down or lying in bed. This means that it is suitable for patients who suffer from a wide range of disabilities from those who are wheelchair bound to those who are bedridden. To use, it could be easily attached in front of a wheelchair or directly placed on the bed.
The equipment is fitted with two support pedals where you can securely fasten your legs to, and they work in tandem with the hand crank. This allows paraplegics to be able to exercise their upper and lower body simultaneously as well as provide cardiovascular training that would keep the heart healthy.
The YouBikeTM could be used by professional physical therapists as well as for use at home as part of home-based physiotherapy rehabilitation programs. Its carbon fiber frame makes it sturdy, lightweight [14kg or 31pounds] and portable to move around. It is also compact in design, given that it could be easily folded down in minutes, which makes it great for home storage .
Berkel Bike – from £6995
Berkel Bike is an exercise and transport wheelchair training machine that is suitable for those who are partially or fully immobile in their legs. It combines the concept of the arm and leg bike together with its award-winning Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) system to help patients who are completely paralyzed in their legs to experience the joy of cycling. The FES sends electrical pulses to the nerves that result in muscle contractions, allowing users to power the leg pedals.
As an arm and leg bike, it is powered in a similar manner to the YouBike through the tandem motion of both set of limbs. It has two models – Connect and Pro – that could be used both outdoors and indoors, giving disabled individuals greater mobility and workout opportunities. The Berkel Bike Connect could be conveniently attached to the wheelchair when needed, while the Pro offers a wider wheelbase together with eight different changeable gears that makes it suitable for vigorous sports activities.
