---
title: Get Up, Get Out, and Do It!
description: When I was injured, part of the adjustment was trying to figure out if I could ever be active again.
---

[Voices From The Community | Spinal Cord Injury & Paralysis](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en)

# [Get Up, Get Out, and Do It!](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en/get-up-get-out)

 Written by [Howard Menaker](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en/author/howard-menaker) | Jun 27, 2023 1:00:00 PM

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)](https://www.kennedykrieger.org/patient-care/centers-and-programs/international-center-for-spinal-cord-injury) 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. I learned I could work out by video with my personal trainer.

[View full post](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en/get-up-get-out)

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