Disability fitness – Check out these online exercise videos for disabled people

This week Apple announced an accessibility update to its disability fitness app Apple Fitness+ to make it accessible and inclusive for disabled and non-disabled people. That’s great news especially in these lockdown times when people are unable to get the exercise they need. Staying fit and active has never been more critical. There’s a range of inclusive exercise videos and fitness apps offering workout programmes tailor-made for people of different disability types.

Here’s a look at some of these exercise classes that you can follow from the safety of your home during this lockdown period.

Evolve21

Evolve 21 is the first inclusive fitness app for disabled people and was launched by the Cerebral Palsy Foundation (CPF), United States. It started off as the CPF Challenge, which was part workout and part fundraising effort. There are specialised disability fitness workouts for people with limited mobility and the exercise videos are demonstrated by coaches who have a disability of some kind.. The workouts are designed in such a way that people with and without disabilities can do them together. You have to complete one seven-minute workout for 21 days running to gain access to all the exercise videos for good. There are various exercise options for disabled people to choose from including cardio, yoga, and meditation. The app is compatible with iOS and Android.

Check out Evolve21 here:

Kakana

Launched in October 2021, Kakana offers inclusive exercise classes for disabled and non-disabled people. It has live and on-demand workout sessions s in strength, meditation, yoga, stretching, cardio, and cross-cycling. The sessions are led by disabled and non-disabled athletes and trainers. They include well-known names like Team USA para-lifter Blaze Foster. Most of the exercise classes are 20 to 30 minutes long and there is a seven-day free trial period.

Check out this strength training workout for disabled people:

Champion’s RX

This is a high-intensity disability fitness programme with daily workouts designed for disabled and non-disabled people who are currently active. The exercise classes are divided into three main classes. One is for people who can use all four limbs, people with ambulatory cerebral palsy, and people with limb loss. The other exercise programme is for disabled people have use of their upper body, including some core. This may include people with paraplegia, and some individuals with CP. The third category is for people with limited upper body use and some impairment in their grip. This could include people with quadriplegia. These exercise videos for disabled people have been uploaded by the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD), United States.

Kym NonStop

Bike racer, trainer, and Amazing Race contestant and fitness enthusiast Kym Perfetto has quite a few videos for people with limited mobility on her YouTube channel. This Apple Fitness+ Trainer is one of social media’s biggest fitness influencers. Perfetto has an interesting journey towards becoming a prominent face in inclusive fitness. She had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in college and found it hard to stay focused on studies. Until she found that she could concentrate on a book when she was on the treadmill. On her YouTube channel, Perfetto posts exercise videos and how-to content every week for her 132,000-plus subscribers.

Fit5 Workout Series Workouts

This is a series of disability fitness exercise videos created by Special Olympics for persons of all disability types to get moving to. Follow these disability fitness exercise classes to improve your endurance, strength and flexibility during the lockdown. Every exercise video has five levels and run for up to six minutes.

Lockdown is not an excuse to stay inactive. Get moving with these disability fitness exercise videos we have found for you.