Keeping Fit

I like working out to build up my muscles and to increase my physical ability. I want to challenge myself every Monday and Wednesday when I'm at the YMCA. How much farther can I bike than last time? How much can I lift and how many times can I do it?

I'm always happy and feel great after a work out, but I usually arrive feeling lazy and tired and not wanting to do anything. I show up because I have seen other people who are in wheelchairs and they can't do a lot; I don't want to be like that.

Exercise is nothing new to me, I had to work with a physiotherapist doing exercises for most of my life. Now I can do what I want and I'm not sure what would help the most so I need to get a work out plan. I want to exercise my arms but I don't know what what's best for me so I'll ask an expert to help me with my goals. I would like to start physio again. It frustrates me sometimes how my muscles don't move the way I want them or it takes a little more time. My muscles can stay tense and I think massage would help relax them.

When I was in school for web design, I wasn't working out. I kept feeling lazy and thinking how I needed to start being more active again. Right now I work out twice a week and have activities that I would like to try. But I'm bad because I'm waiting to try new activities until after I move out of the group home. I know I can start now but part of me doesn't want to in case the activities don't fit in my new independent life. One thing I can try is participating in a group class to see if I can handle it. There are drop-in classes at the YMCA when I'm usually there so it already fits in with my schedule. I may need to try more than one class to find the best fit. I think I might start out with less exercise than normal because my effort is being spent learning all the moves and switching between them. I hope it improves later on.

I don't like all of it. I stopped using one leg weight machine because it always hurt my upper legs. I've always wanted to try kick boxing because I think it would be fun. I've tried yoga, it was different. We moved fast and sometimes it was hard for me to keep up with the class. I would like to try one where we spend more time in the different poses so I have time to get into the pose and keep up. I was involved in swimming growing up and want to get back into it. I have a wider range of movement in the water and I feel better after it. I competed in the special Olympics. I love being in water because it makes me walk and helps my legs.