This past week has been tough on everyone. Our culture isn't used to social distancing, and it's thrown everyone for a loop. I recently became a member of an amputee support group and was sad to learn about their particular struggles through this difficult time. Because of the virus, physical therapists, prosthetists, and doctors have canceled or postponed appointments for these individuals. Additionally, many gyms have closed, so amputees are left to struggle through their physical therapy sessions and workouts on their own. This has weighted heavily on my heart because of how much I love and need to workout; it helps my emotional well-being just as much as my physical well-being.
So, what am I going to do about it? I put my timidity and pride aside and made a workout video. Disclaimer: I am NOT an exercise coach by any means. I'm not claiming to have the perfect form or know the technical name for body parts and what not. What I hope to accomplish through the making of this video is to help amputees (or anyone with a lower limb injury for that matter) remain active, raise morale, and help people pass the time in a healthy manner while we all try to avoid extra trips to our refrigerators out of boredom! haha
The video has two parts: floor exercises and chair exercises. I do the entire workout without my prosthesis on to show that people who have limited use of their residual limb or injured leg can still do it. It was very difficult to decide which activities to include, and I know that there is no such thing as a one size fits all workout, but hopefully it'll be a good middle ground-- not too difficult and not too easy. Just do your best with it and have fun! Feel free to skip exercises that are too difficult or modify others to make them more challenging as you see fit. I hope that this can be a good filler workout until life goes back to normal. Who knows, maybe even able bodied people can enjoy it too :)