Ask Rocco: How to Stay Healthy After a Tragic Accident
A wheelchair-bound reader wants to know how to stay healthy. Rocco tells her how to turn her stumbling blocks into building blocks - something we all can learn from.

Question: Rocco, Due to a car accident I am in a wheelchair. I am only partially paralyzed (I can stand and walk short distances) but will need the use of the wheelchair for the rest of my life. I am still young (19) and want to be otherwise healthy for the rest of my life. What exercises can I do to keep my heart and lungs health?
-Brei

Answer: At 19 years old you have your whole life ahead of you. It sounds so friggin’ cliché, but sometimes there is real truth in clichés. The accident robbed you of your legs but not your spirit and that’s really where life is.

Your attitude will take you to experiences that you may never have gotten the chance to take part in otherwise. Keeping your body fit and well enough to take part in those experiences is the smartest thing you can do. I hope to meet you someday so I can shake your hand and meet a real life inspiration. Now that my eyes have welled up and I can’t see my computer keyboard, I’m just going to have to wing it.

Actually, using your wheelchair can be a great exercise tool. It can give you incredible arm, shoulder, chest, back and midsection strength. If you vigorously push yourself around the track or up and down small hills to start, and then move up to larger hills when you can.

I also recommend getting out of the chair and doing negative push-ups, walking crabs (walking on your hands out in front of your body, in an upright position). If you can grab a bar and pull yourself up into a pull up position for repetitions, have at it. An exercise I call “reach for the sky” is excellent for the shoulders and arms (go to askROCCO.com to view the video of this exercise). I hope this helps and write me back with your progress.

Rocco Castellano
		About the author:
		Rocco Castellano is a contributor for Cincy Chic as well as the co-founder of askROCCO Media, which provides boot camps, seminars, media content and online fitness services at askROCCO.com . He is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and has written askROCCO Uncensored v1 available at bookstores everywhere. To submit your fitness question click here.

Last update: 10-09-2007 14:22

Published in : Magazine Items, Health