Get Up, Get Out, and Do It!

Let’s be honest: I was never a jock. In fact, I was the opposite of a jock – clumsy, awkward, studious, and an avid reader. Growing up, I was that kid who would rather spend time with my nose in a good book or listening to music than on the baseball diamond. Oh, I enjoyed watching Major League Baseball or college basketball, but playing sports was not my thing. 

But as I grew up, I learned the positive results of exercise and playing sports. A world of benefits flowed from being active: better blood pressure, better muscle tone and strength, better respiratory health, fewer aches, and pains. And I learned there were emotional benefits as well: people who are active have a brighter attitude, tend to be more optimistic, have better self-images and better social lives. Who wouldn’t want all that…and more? So, for many years I went to the gym somewhat regularly. I would never have been mistaken for an athlete, but I stayed active. 

So, when I was injured, part of the adjustment was trying to figure out if I could ever be active again. I looked at wheelchair athletes and knew that organized adaptive sports teams were not for me. I wondered: was I now destined to be even more sedentary than I was before my injury? 

I was fortunate to go to the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) for my spinal cord physical therapy. Not only are their therapists fantastic, but they have created a personal training component to spinal cord recovery, and I work out on my upper body with a personal trainer after each therapy session at KKI. This outstanding staff is trained to adapt exercise programs according to each person’s level of injury and ability. Even during the COVID lockdown, I learned I could work out by video with my personal trainer.