What opportunity does the human body’s complexity create for fitness and health professionals to change lives?
By Jess Silver
Flex for Access
The fitness industry presents a beautiful roadmap for a career oriented individual because there are numerous avenues for one to pursue that are meaningfully impactful. One can pursue the path to becoming a Registered Kinesiologist, a Strength and Conditioning Coach, a sport specific coach or a Health Promotion Specialist, for example. All of these qualifications lead an individual to learn to understand and more importantly apply knowledge of the human body, to working with and impacting clients and population health in a hands-on manner.
Within each broader specialization of the industry and of the specialization of Kinesiology and Exercise Science, there are concentrations that focus on special populations, which are for example those with physical disabilities. It is integral to the both the health and actualization of individuals who are part of this demographic to exercise, but also for the fitness and health professional who is working them, to have this opportunity.
Why? This type of opportunity presents the qualified exercise professional with an avenue to broaden their scope of expertise and to be part of a healthcare team, with a central role, and furthermore to have a lasting influence on an individual’s life.
Flex for Access, which is a Non-Profit Organization that focuses on providing opportunities for adaptive fitness and sport to manage physical disability and establish readily available education for fitness professionals and has a working relationship with FitBizWeekly; recently interviewed Charlie Adams, one of their program recipients. Following is the interview with Charlie speaking to Flex for Access about the impact on his quality of life and the importance of Adaptive Fitness for professionals to understand.
Flex for Access (FFA): Share a snapshot of your story (if comfortable, before and after your injury)
Charlie Adams (CA): I have been a paraplegic since September 8, 2022, when a tree fell across my back and left me with a spinal cord injury. Before my injury I was very active in sports, such as biking and skiing, as well as a number of other sports. Since my injury my physical activity has been somewhat limited. I do find the few sports that I am getting involved with are very challenging because of the physical limitations of my injury. The learning curve is steep, as I am a beginner once again.
FFA: Was fitness and physical activity always important to you? If so, why, and describe what you liked to do?
CA: Fitness and overall physical activity have always been a huge part of my life both at work and at play. I worked as a powerline tech. Our vacations were centered around physical activity. We traveled to Mexico to rock climb. We traveled to Europe and Chile to ski and Hawaii to surf.
FFA: Why is it important now, post acquiring a Spinal Cord Injury?
CA: Having a good fitness level makes all of life’s little tasks such as getting out of bed or getting dressed easier. These tasks are made more difficult with only half my body participating. I want to stay strong, so time spent training is important. I had to learn new ways to go skiing, to hand cycle a mountain bike, to transfer into a sailboat. This allows me to participate in activities with my family and friends. I still require a little help, but I’m becoming much more independent. And for the first time in my life, since the injury, I struggled with weight gain. Physical activity and training, therefore, is that much more important as I try to drop the extra weight.
FFA: Describe your adaptive fitness training regime at the facility that you train at.
CA: I found out about Walk It Off (WIO) Spinal Cord Recovery and Wellness Centre from a mutual friend who was into rock climbing and also knew Kevin Mills, who together with his wife Heather Cairns-Mills founded the not-for-profit. I researched Activity Based Therapy and found how helpful it was in engaging the body below the level of injury. My level of injury is T8, meaning I have minimal core strength and no leg movement. WIO therapists start my training regime with NSAT (Nervous System Activation technique). This is a series of movements that gets my body below my level of injury and ready to go. Next, we work on core or leg engagement and also strength and balance. The therapists often ask what life goals I’m working on and create my workout around those objectives. For example, transferring in and out of my hand crank e-assist mountain bike. Since I have a pressure sore that needs to be protected, this also guides how we train, and the team has been able to adapt quite well.
FFA: How has Flex for Access’ work supported your fitness journey and recovery?
CA: Flex for access has contributed to my training at WIO by financing a number of my sessions. And for this I am very grateful. Because of my situation I don’t have any insurance, so any bit of financial assistance is important.
FFA: Why do you feel that it’s important for fitness and health professionals to work with a Non-Profit Organization like Flex for Access?
CA: I would like fitness and health professionals to continue to move the needle on awareness and change social perceptions of what disabilities look like. Having the ability to adapt and overcome challenges is paramount. Flex for Access bridges that awareness between someone like me and the fitness industry. The lived experience that the Non-Profit Organization brings to the table can help so much with recognizing that physical fitness, exercise and sports are central to our well-being in so many ways.
FFA: What would you like to tell health professionals about working with individuals like yourself who have varying mobility?
CA: I’d like to tell them that people with disabilities experience the same benefits from physical fitness and training as able-bodied people do, and perhaps even more so. Along with the mental and physical benefits, exercise oxygenates the brain strengthening adaptability and neural plasticity. I would also like to add that, if you tell people there is no hope, there is no hope. By engaging the brain as a muscle, the brain becomes a powerful fitness tool.
Charlie’s experience as a program recipient of Flex for Access’ funding and support, and his insight into the importance of movement as a mechanism for wellness, establishes that fitness professionals should take every opportunity to learn about how to address physical disabilities, and to develop ways to work with individuals who have greater visibly embodied complexity to their body.
Supporting Flex for Access’ work, creates greater opportunity for fitness professionals and those who work to create accessible technological innovations related to fitness equipment, to learn and grow in their scope and supports life changing improvement like Charlie’s.
To learn more, become partnered with Flex for Access, or donate, visit www.flexforaccess.ca
Photos courtesy Charlie Adams and Walk it Off Spinal Cord Recovery and Wellness Centre.
