A blog Dedicated to Adaptive Fitness for those living with Spinal cord injury, Stroke, Amputation, for Seniors and other disabilities as well as General Fitness news and info for their family and friends
Below are the OFFICIAL RESULTS following last weekends wildly successful 1st ever Winter DPI Adaptive Fitness Games hosted by Medstar National Rehabilitation Hospital.
It was such a great time, we really had a blast putting this event together with Medstar NRH's No Limits coordinator Harsh T.
This event was designed to showcase abilities, to test strength, endurance, and determination to complete each event all while inspiring others at all levels of ability to get moving and showing them that no matter what "Fitness is for everyone at any level"
We are already hard at work planning the Summer DPI Adaptive Fitness Games which will include bigger and better events AND...we will make it an open invitational (meaning anyone can enter to compete from anywhere)
Take a look a the final results, and keep an eye out for some great pics of the event coming soon.
I wanted to share a letter that I sent out this morning to everyone involved in making our first ever Adaptive Fitness Games such a success.
It was an amazing event and feedback so far is that everyone loved it and is anxiously awaiting our summer games.
We definitely saw some areas for improvement, but overall we are extremely confident that we can now hold an open invitational when the time comes. This way anyone at any level can come from anywhere to compete, how cool will that be!!!
Stay tuned for more pics of the event....
"Just wanted to send a special thank you to the DPI team...Pablo, Katie, Baldwin, Stephanie and Meaghan.
You guys and gals have been so instrumental in keeping the programming running smoothly and in supporting DPI leading up to and during the games yesterday.
Bigger things ahead, glad to have you all working with me.
To all the volunteers, you all rocked your assignments yesterday. Everything went way better than I had planned. Thank you for giving up your Saturday to help us out.
Joan and Harsh, thank you for having us lead the fitness programming and for giving us the platform to do the games.
All of the competitors...you guys were amazing!!!
I hope you all had as much fun competing as we did designing and putting together this event.
Congratulations to the winners:
Stroke Division: Christie
Open Division: Twila
Quadriplegia Division: Billy
Paraplegia Division: Harsh
This event was a vision that we had for a very long time, it was incredible to see it realized.
We are looking forward to an even bigger and better Open Invitational Summer Games "outdoors"
It has been awhile since my last post, so many good things have been happening it's almost hard to keep up with it all.
My hope with this post is to bring everyone up to speed with what DPI Adaptive Fitness has been up to and what is planned for the future.
You have to check out the videos below....
Updates:
-Since October we have been steady participating in lectures and events for the community including lectures at local rehab hospitals, Stroke Comeback Center, Spina Bifida walk and roll events and even the Super H Run, Walk and Wheel to benefit Adaptive Sports programs in the Washington DC area.
-In addition we have been working very hard and closely with Medstar NRH to provide free adaptive fitness classes to the community. This has been a tremendous success, to the point where we have added an additional day of free supervised adaptive fitness exercise sessions to the disABLED community.
It is soooo awesome to see so many people all at varying levels of ability come out and give it their all during our classes.
If you have a second, check out the videos and comment below, word of encouragement and motivation go a long way for our participants.
-We also have had the pleasure of meeting and being even more motivated by an awesome group by the name of I AM ADAPTIVE. Please check them out, they are doing such a fabulous job of bringing awareness and creating a great community of Adaptive Athletes together.
-Lastly, we are super excited to be hosting (along with NRH) the first of it's kind Adaptive Fitness Winter Games on Feb 21, 2015 from 2:30-4:30 at Medstar NRH.
This event is sure to be a hit, myself and the other Adaptive Fitness Trainers of DPI Adaptive Fitness have designed an Adaptive Fitness event for our open gym participants to compete against one another to determine the Winter champion of 2015 in the following divisions:
Stroke
Spinal Cord Injury-Paraplegia
Spinal Cord Injury-Quadriplegia
Open Division (Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy, Amputee, Seniors)
Online Division (Anyone at home that would like to compete following our Instagram account: dpiadaptivefitness)
This event is sure to be a big hit, if you are at all able make sure to come by to cheer, motivate, support, and be inspired by our adaptive competitors.
We have lots more in the works and are soooo very excited to see where the future takes us, check back for updates!!!
Open Gym with DPI Adaptive Fitness:
Adaptive Boxing Fitness with DPI Adaptive Fitness:
Check out the video above or Devonpalermoinc.com. We've just launched DPI Fitness TV!!!!
What is DPI Fitness TV?
Well, It's an Adapted Fitness TV channel. What we hope to accomplish is to provide access to Adapted Boxing Fitness classes to everyone and anyone regardless of location.
So many individuals are really enjoying the live classes here in the DC, MD, VA area, from Seniors, to SCI, Stroke, Amputee, and even Therapists at the rehab hospitals. The class is fun, high energy, and challenging for everyone at ANY level.
We're in the initial stages, but plan to offer live streaming classes to everyone for a very nominal cost.
Stay tuned for now as I will be offering many trial classes to work the bugs out, tell your friends, and get ready to get your boxing on!
Check out Devonpalermoinc.com for a sample warm-up session that I performed with my Senior group recently.
I feel like I've been working on this book for forever, there have been so many speed bumps that I have encountered that prevented or delayed my working on the book, but I persevered, held strong, and Never gave up because I really feel that this can be an extremely helpful tool for all of you and I wanted it to be just right so that you will love it as much I loved putting it together.
As an Adaptive Fitness Trainer, I really see the benefit in a book like this for people living with a disability that just aren't sure....Not sure about nutrition, not sure about adaptive sports, not sure about fitness or specifically what exercises to do.
My hope is that this book will fill some gaps and present some "A ha" moments so that you all will begin to or increase your current level of fitness and become more sure of your Abilities.
on this site you will be able to download a free chapter, take a look at some of the downloadable forms that are in the book and learn a little more about the book.
Also you can check out and leave comments on the Disability Fitness Handbook Facebook page, like us and friend us spread the word about this awesome resource.
Things have been a little hectic.....I'm in the process of taking on more Adaptive Fitness Clients and cutting back hours in the PT clinic.
I'm looking to keep my Therapy License active, but there is such a need for Adaptive Fitness Trainers, that I decided to go out full time and make myself more available to help those interested in continued fitness after injury or illness.
Exciting times....
I also
wanted to give a quick update on the book.
Editing pictures took much longer than expected, but it was definitely worth it.
The next step is to send off for Formatting so that it can be viewed on Kindle, Nook, or on any other electronic device.
I'm also in the process of obtaining copyright status, and building a website (www.disabilityfitnesshandbook.com) where you will be able to view a sample chapter of the book, take a look at the book cover and description and table of contents.
The site is not live yet, but once it is I will let you all know.
I've also contacted a company about possible having a printed copy of the book made, depending on how the electronic version does.
I really am excited about presenting this book and sharing my knowledge on adaptive fitness to the public.
Stay tuned for continued updates and an official release date.
I've recently been completing a lot of fitness assessments for adaptive training as well as personal training and thought it be a good idea to list what you should expect out of your initial visits with your personal trainer/adaptive trainer so that you can make the most out of your first visit and make an informed decision on committing to sessions with your new trainer.
So you've found a trainer and have set up an initial visit, here are some things to expect out of your first visit.
This is an information gathering meeting: Be prepared to have information ready to provide to your trainer, this includes: Emergency contact info, your medication lists, recent injuries or ailments, etc...
You will be presented with release forms to be signed before any physical activity begins: Consent forms, confidentiality forms, and medical release forms are the norm.
The trainer will conduct a question/answer period including your past exercise history, medical history, current nutrition habits and will discuss realistic short term and long term goals that as a team you will strive to meet.
You may have your baseline body fat, heart rate, blood pressure, and body measurements checked.
Once you have completed the above, you will now move onto the physical assessment portion of the visit.
This will include an assessment of your current strength and endurance (ie, push up test/sit-up test) form and function (squat test) Balance and cardio endurance (Step test)
If your living with a disability an adaptive training assessment will be performed. This will include an assessment of your abilities to perform tasks such as sitting balance, transitioning from sit to stand, your ability to get down to and up from the floor, and your upper body strength and endurance
(Adaptive training assessments will really vary per the individual and the disability)
Now that all of the above have been completed, your trainer will schedule some follow up visits with you and will implement a program based off of your assessment designed to meet your goals and your trainers goals for you.
As mentioned in previous posts, consistency is key and is instrumental in achieving progression towards goals.
If your completing an assessment in your home try to do the following in preparation for your assessment:
Have an open space dedicated to the assessment
Wear workout clothing (your going to be moving around aren't you)
Bring your water ahead of time
What to look for in an adaptive fitness trainer:
Many of the accredited certifying agencies are offering certifications for exercise therapy or adaptive fitness. This is a specialty certification, usually in addition to a Personal Training Certification.
Ask to make sure your trainer is insured (just in case)
Ask about your trainers background working with similar clients.
Keep an eye out for my book coming out the end of this month, in it I will touch on fitness that can be completed at home with supervision for those recovering from Stroke, SCI, Amputation, or who are Seniors, it will also cover self assessments, nutrition, and adaptive sports
The book is a real comprehensive guide and I'm excited to share it with everyone.
Doing some reading today and gathering some research and other articles that focus on positive outcomes following activity or exercise performance.
It is common knowledge that there is a benefit to regular exercise for everyone, which is why any morning of the week you will see people running, riding bikes, or walking.
The benefits of a consistent exercise program are countless, but overall help to improve mind, body, and soul.
Following a disability there is an even greater reason to exercise, yes it is still important for mind, body, and soul, but there is plenty of consistent research that is proving that regular exercise can also improve function.
Activity based rehab- is a term that has become popular in the spinal cord injury, and while more research is needed to prove its effectiveness for all spinal cord injuries, there is some research that finds benefit for some.
Walking program-I have stressed walking to many of my clients who are recovering from a stroke. There are countless studies on the benefits of a regular walking program for strength, muscle and cardiovascular endurance, as well as improving movement patterns, balance, and control.
Here are two articles that prove the benefits of walking for those recovering from a stroke and for seniors to improve or maintain strength and independence.
As more research is conducted and gathered, the same result will be proven over and over again for anyone with or without a disability....Consistent exercise will improve and benefit your Mind, Body, Soul, and Function.
So keep fighting and Never give up!
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