Building Strength and Independence for Patients With Physical Impairments

In the video above, Dan Evans, a patient of MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital and Harsh Thakkar, spinal cord injury coordinator, speak about their experiences during the Adaptive Sports and Fitness program.

Adaptive Sports and Fitness Program

Every Tuesday night and Saturday morning, Dan Evans hits the gym. He works with trainers who guide him through resistance training, circuit training, and core strengthening exercises. He chats with fellow gymgoers—the same folks he sees every week—works up a good sweat, then heads home.

But this is no ordinary gym. And Dan isn’t your typical gym client.

He suffered a spinal cord injury in 2007 that resulted in paralysis of his lower extremities. Two years ago, as he was finishing the last of his physical therapy sessions, he knew he needed a way to continue exercising and building his strength.

“I knew that if it were left to me to exercise on my own at home, it wouldn’t get done,” says Dan, a 67-year-old retired attorney for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. “I was happy to find out that there was a program that could help me continue making progress.”

That program is the Adaptive Sports and Fitness program at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital. Its services are completely free, thanks to a grant by the Gordon and Marilyn Macklin Foundation.

The program aims to build and improve strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, functional abilities, and overall mood and confidence for participants with neurological impairments resulting from spinal cord injuries, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions.

The 4-year-old MedStar Health program was created with the vision to give patients a fitness resource beyond the physical therapy they receive after discharge from a hospital. Most participants come to the program as a referral from their physical therapist, while others find out about the program through our community outreach initiatives and word of mouth.

Source: https://www.nchpad.org/111/860/Spinal-Cord-Injury-and-Exercise

Fitness classes include boxing-based fitness, circuit training, and adaptive sports conditioning, among others. Classes can be customized to fit the needs of the individual by certified trainers. Those certified trainers are from DPI Adaptive Fitness, a MedStar Health partner that specializes in dedicated, experienced, and reliable trainers. With backgrounds in physical therapy, personal training, boot camp, boxing, group exercise and adaptive fitness, they set realistic goals for participants and provide services that can safely yet aggressively push people to perform beyond their own expectations.

For those looking for a higher level of activity, the program also offers a wide range of recreational and competitive adaptive sports programs, including wheelchair basketball, quad rugby, cycling, rowing, bocce ball, and others—all open to anyone with a disability at no cost. The sports program provides coaching, training, equipment, and travel assistance, and hosts adaptive sports tournaments throughout the year.

While the physical advantages of these MedStar Health programs are obvious, many participants benefit just as much from the moral support, encouragement, and social enrichment they receive from their peers.

“We’ve seen many people come in for the first time with their heads down, who just want to get their workout done and go home,” Thakkar says. “Then after a while, they are fully engaged and confident with their heads held high.”

That’s certainly true of fitness program participant Dan Evans.

“The strength and endurance I’m building is giving me the ability to stay independent, and that’s vital,” says Evans, adding that thanks to the program, he has the stamina to wheel himself throughout his Dupont Circle neighborhood with ease. “I feel like I can do anything.”