My oldest son is fascinated with sports. He loves watching the games, has his favorite teams, and cannot wait for his next competition, so he can compete himself. While it is more difficult for him than the “average” student athlete due to his special needs, he does play a variety of sports with Special Olympics and at his middle school. Over the years, I have spent hours researching tips and tricks to do with him to help him increase his strength – which is good for his PT/OT also – and we do strength training exercises, because he has always had low muscle tone. We have several exercises we do to improve his overall muscle tone, but 5 exercises for strength training.
I know some people don’t think kids should do strength training, but Aaron actually needs it for his therapy, and during my research, I found that when it’s done properly, it can actually help prevent injuries. Here are 5 exercises that we do:
- Stretch doing exercises for the rotator cuff. Stretching and strengthening these muscles will also help prevent injury. We pull out a kitchen chair, he stands back with his knees bent, arms on back of chair and leans over letting his shoulders stretch. He holds it for about 15 seconds, stands straight up, and repeats 4 times.
- Stretch doing exercises for the tricpes. He does 50 pushups each day.
- Stretch doing exercises for the biceps. We use a 3 lb Rubber Dumbbell for him to do Bicep Curls. We increase the weight slowly, as needed. This has made a tremendous difference in his overall arm strength. Previously he couldn’t lift a gallon of milk, and now he can carry one in each hand!
- Do 50 situps and 50 8 count body builders each day. This strengthens his core muscles and gives him stamina. Once this amount gets easy for him, we’ll increase it. It also helps him expel excess energy, so he’s better able to control his pitches and not just throw wildly.
- Throw daily with a partner. Joshua likes playing catch, so they throw together. They stand just beyond the distance Aaron can comfortably throw until he masters that distance. Then Joshua moves back further, and they repeat.
ALWAYS remember to warm up and cool down before pitching or performing any exercise! Also note, these are things we do with my special needs 10 year old son. For someone of a different ability level, this may not be the best process!
terry myers says
Exercise is importañt for all people not just the disable
terry myers says
I do exercise in bed to help keep my strength up.I have Cerebral palsy I am bed bound