Obstacle Course

Today we had a really cool and fun workout! I went to the studio with my manual wheelchair. For those of you who don't know, I got a Widget wheelchair with a fuschia and black zebra-print paint job! It has these handle-bars attatched to the wheels, that are long enough to reach, and I pump the handle-bars/levers forward or backwards, depending on which way I'm going. There are "switches" on the tops of the levers which I can turn to make the wheelchair move forward, or turn the opposite way to make the wheelchair go backwards. Each lever can be "switched" forwards/backwards individually...so one wheel can be going forward while the other is backing-up. It's really cool!

 

So, with my Widget, Nicole and I had a lot of fun working with it! First, Nicole had me go forward across the studio foor. When I reached the end, I turned around and went back the other way. I pushed my Widget forward across the room for awhile, then Nicole had me switch it up! I went backwards from one end of the studio to the other. Let me just say, pushing the Widget forwards and pulling it backwards, is a hard-core arm workout!

 

Then, Nicole set up an obstacle course for me to do. She placed four blocks on the floor in a spread-out, straight line. Then she put a "half-dome" on the floor, off to the side of the blocks. The obstacle course was pretty basic to look at, but it ended up being pretty tricky manuvering my wheelchair around all the bricks and circling the "half-dome" twice! The end of the course was pushing myself straight back to the start-point. I wheeled through the obstacle course a few times and I circled the "half-dome" backwards a couple of times. I was deffinitely wearing out by then from all the pushing/pulling!

 

Next, Nicole got her stop-watch and said, "Alright, we're going to start timing you." I got my Widget to the starting line and when Nicole said "Go!," I took off, leaving a trail of dust in my wake! jk. I actually had a disappointingly slow start. As I continued on through the course, the "switches" on the end end of the levers kept slipping out of the going-forward-mode. They would slide out of gear, into a neutral-mode. Very frustrating to have to stop and place a switch back in gear! I finished the obstacle course in 4min 56seconds. So, that's the time to beat next tine.

 

Lastly, I wheeled over to the TRX. Holding onto the TRX handles. I attempted to pull myself up to a stand. Nicole helped to keep my feet down. She kept my left foot from kicking out...I know it doesn't really make sense, it doesn't make sense to me either, but I get muscle overflow which sends my left leg forward, rather than having the muscles in my leg just push my foot down in a standing position. Iwas able to pull myself up higher than I have before. That was actually really encouraging, but I'm still unable to pull myself up to a full stand.

 

Although the Widget doesn't tilt back, I really enjoy working-out in it. Nicole says I look straighter, like I'm sitting more comfortably in the Widget. Well, I plan on using my Widget lots!