Exercise

My education and career experience are in Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology. Naturally, I want to heal my husband with exercise. Working with him is a challenge to me because his conditions are a far cry from anybody else with whom I have worked. He desperately wants to get back in a gym, but with his current condition it would be a waste of time. Plus, he is too ashamed to go in and not perform as someone without injuries. I finally convinced him last week to walk up and down our driveway 3-5 times in a row, once or twice a day. We do not have a long driveway, but it is inclined. One time up is a difficult task when you cannot use your calves to propel your gait. He decided that he will walk the driveway when I go out for my daily run. The first day he did incredible! When I got back from my run he made it up and down the driveway 15 times. I stretched him when he finished, and he felt good. His pain was tolerable, and he had a happy energy to him. The second day he also made 15, but this time was pushing it. Seven more days have now passed that he has been unable to tackle the driveway. It is difficult for me to figure out how to convince this overachiever that more is not necessarily better in this case. We'll keep taking it one day at a time, though, and hopefully soon he can build up to consistently doing it every other day or every day.

Here are some good resources for further reading on exercise for spinal cord injuries: