5 Reasons Exercise is the Best Medicine

A spinal cord injury doesn’t have to keep you from being active. Learn the top benefits of participating in a sports or exercise activity.

Explore the benefits of exercise for people with spinal cord injuries.

If you have a spinal cord injury (SCI), there are many advantages to participating in a sport or form of exercise. Here are five benefits.

1. Maximize your overall ability. People with limited motor function may be able to train their other abilities to compensate. Muscles can take over additional functions if they are trained correctly. This is especially true for the upper limbs and torso of people who are in wheelchairs.
2. Diminish your spastic activity. Many people with paraplegia have a so-called spinal spasticity effect. Physical activity may diminish this spastic activity.
3. Improve your circulation. Staying active and moving your body may lead to better circulation. This can help prevent the formation of pressure ulcers (decubitus).
4. Enhance your mental health. The positive mental effects of exercise are significant. When you are physically active, you gain a sense of achievement that motivates you and boosts your self-confidence.
5. Meet your peers and socialize. Besides enhancing your health and rehabilitation, exercise will enable you to meet new people and have more social interactions. You may also meet others with spinal cord injury, giving you greater comfort and a feeling of being a part of a community.

“Engaging in sports is much more than just heart rate and muscle-building. Sports are a way to self-awareness, a way back into society, a way to interact with one’s friends, and a way to build self-confidence. Sports are a key to mastery of one’s life. And whoever masters sports can manage everything else as well!”