Exercising from home
Doing some exercise, even a few times a week, can help you stay fit and healthy. There are lots of ways to exercise at home.
Find somewhere comfortable and safe to exercise. Start small and go at your own pace.
Seek medical advice and ask your fitness professional if they are qualified to design exercise programmes for disabled clients.
Warning Talk to a health professional
Before you start, talk to your GP, a specialist or health professional, like an occupational therapist (OT), if:
- you’re not sure about what exercises you can do
- you want to know what exercises are best for you to do
- you need help making modifications to exercises
- you need to get adaptations or specialist prosthetics
You could also talk to an organisation or charity for your condition or impairment.
Talking to healthcare professionals about equipment and assistive technology
Exercise classes for disabled people
There is a range of classes designed for people with different access needs. Check charities and organisations supporting your condition or impairment to find out if they have any suggestions, resources or classes. You could also contact local charities. You could also try:
Activity Alliance has a list of exercise guides and home workouts for disabled people created by a range of organisations.
Age UK has physical activity videos to use at home.
British Blind Sport provides information on keeping fit at home for blind and partially sighted people.
Disability Sports Coach offers free weekly Dance and Yoga sessions best suited for teenagers and adults.
Flamingo Chicks dance classes teach disabled children on YouTube.
InclusFit UK disability fitness expert.
Mencap show some exercises you can do with Andrew the dancer.
Para Dance provides details on remote inclusive dance activities.
Sense suggests home activities for disabled people of all ages.
Steady and Strong is a series of gentle exercises designed to help people manage their health and wellbeing.
The Vitality Coach provides low-impact, seated exercises for people who have breathing difficulties.
You lean me up app has accessible workout programmes from a deaf online coach.
Finding exercise classes online
Trying different types of programmes and classes can help you find out what exercises you can do. This can be particularly useful if you’re doing workouts that are not designed for disabled people.
You could try:
- searching online and on YouTube for workouts
- looking for live online classes that you join on video with others
- getting an exercise programme from a personal trainer, physio or OT over a video call
You could also take a look at:
NHS Pilates for beginners focuses on balance, posture, strength and flexibility. It's suitable for all ages and fitness levels and the videos range from 10 to 45 minutes.
Get active at home (Sport England) has a comprehensive list of paid online exercise subscriptions, free videos and home activities.
The body coach Joe Wicks has lots of classes on YouTube, from PE with Joe for families to a 7-minute ab workout or low-impact class for beginners.
If you are working out from home on pre-recorded content without an instructor, you are responsible for your own safety.
Adapting workouts
You can often adapt workouts to suit your needs. You may also find some equipment can help you to adapt your workout, such as resistance bands and yoga belts or straps.
Apply to WheelPower for a set of resistance bands to help build muscle groups.
“I’m an upper-body amputee and I started doing yoga with a foam block to help me with the ‘on your hands’ moves. I struggled at first but 6 months later, I can do most of the moves. It wasn’t so much that I was missing a hand but needed time and practice!”
Exercise in gaming
Some gaming consoles and apps have games that help make exercising fun. Search for games on your console, such as:
Just Dance and Just Dance Now allow you to follow along with the dance moves for points to unlock more routines. You can get the game on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox, as well as through a phone app.
Zombies, Run (Mobile) is a mobile running game.
Last reviewed by Scope on: 28/03/2024
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