The importance of functional fitness to amputees.

Like all of us, Amputees gain many health benefits from working out. With particular regard to people with Limb loss, specific functional exercise can have major benefits. Exercise improves balance, protects and increases the range of motion, helps muscle growth, and manages systemic health concerns like weight and blood pressure. Gaining or losing weight has a major impact on prosthetic fitting. 

Working on Core and Posture

For non-vascular amputee’s exercise(s) is also a preventative treatment to help reduce the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A healthy well-balanced diet is also important for the prevention of diabetes.

Improved balance and confidence 

Balance and improved coordination aids confidence. Working on simple ball rolling skills with your "strong Leg" whilst putting weight through your prosthetic requires patience to acquire competence

   
It's been an absolute privilege to have been asked to deliver the Steel Bones Fitness Club Pilot. 

Balance and Confidence

Obviously, as an Inclusion Coach, I believe that everyone should have the same opportunities to improve their fitness. I am 100% behind this project. I’ve been so impressed with the commitment from the people attending the sessions.

Everybody has made significant improvements both to their overall strength and to their core stability. We have someone who previously couldn't hold the core exercise known as the "plank" at all, now they are holding the position for over a minute. 

Core Strength Increased

However, it’s not just the physical progress people have made, it's also the boost in confidence that coming to a mainstream gym provides. One of our members recently said that he wouldn't have felt comfortable going into a gym on his own, but now feels he has the confidence to train. Last but by no means least, there is the social dynamic of the group.



The Steel Bones Fitness Club has a great group of attendees, all amputees, all supporting each other. This generates a great team spirit making it much more than just a fitness club. This friendship and positive spirit makes it a genuine pleasure to support these guys with their training.

Upper body not neglected

I must give a big shout out to the Inspire Fitness Gym in Mildenhall for supporting this project. I know that STEEL BONES want to roll this program out to other parts of the UK. 

Big thanks to the Inspire Fitness Gym, Mildenhall

Check out our YouTube video and please contact me for further information about STEEL BONES or the Fitness Session.

Steel Bones Fitness Club

INCLUSIVE AND ADAPTED SPORT. NOT JUST FOR THE DISABLED.

There is much magnificent work going on in terms of creating more opportunities for disabled people to take part in sports and physical activities. I am an Inclusion Sports Coach so I’m one of the people actively and passionately involved in this work. However, as an Inclusion coach, I also believe in the importance of bringing disabled and non-disabled people where possible to play sport together.

Inclusion is not just about disability. Many non-disabled young people have a troubled relationship with PE, sport and physical activity generally.

I regularly come across young people with issues about their bodies. Children and young people who are either overweight or underweight. Those with eczema, scars or other physical conditions which cause them embarrassment. I sometimes work with young people with low self-esteem, self-image or confidence issues.

My work in inner city schools and community centres brings me into contact with some people who struggle with English, or are from a culture where families are culturally conservative. Some, not all, can tend to "gender stereotype" and so believe PE and sport are "not for girls".

When working on Women and Girls Sports initiatives I sometimes meet the young woman who feels being good at or enjoying sport makes her look unfeminine. But it’s not just girls. What about the boy who is worried about getting hit by the cricket ball, or hurt in the football tackle? Or Boys who don't like sport or PE but whose family put pressure on them to be 'sporty'. And, Girls or boys from families who themselves have had negative experiences in PE or sport.

All of the above can benefit from a more inclusive and adapted approach to sport.
The definition of Inclusion, after all, is - the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure.

I’m sure we all know people who dreaded sports days and would have given anything to avoid the PE class. By using adaptive, inventive and inclusive activities we can often engage with children who, for many reasons, are not drawn to or are naturally good at mainstream and traditional sports.

All children should be able to experience the joy that taking part in sport can bring, the connections that can be made, the sense of accomplishment and the feeling of being part of something bigger.

Most importantly, let’s take the dread out of sport and by making it “Inclusive”, make it FUN for all!

Young children and their reaction to disability.

I’m currently doing work in Primary schools promoting inclusion and working with the children to help them to learn about and respect diversity.

Part of this work involves bringing people with a disability, specifically people with limb loss, into schools to speak with the children.  After giving a talk, the amputees join me and my coaches to deliver inclusive and adapted sports to the little ones.  I’ve been doing this a while now and I still find it interesting to observe the reaction of some of the younger children when they meet someone with a disability for the first time. In my experience, the children often have several different reactions. On occasion, some of these reactions are in sharp contrast. There are little ones, like a young girl called Saffron (not her real name) that I met at a local school recently. Children like Saffron are generally beautifully accepting, sometimes to the point of nonchalance.  This is sometimes due to the child having a member of the family, close friend or relative who has a disability. Then there are those who are inquiring. They readily approach us and are full of questions, along the lines of “does it hurt”, “will it grow back” and, one of my favourites, “what’s it like having a robot leg.”  Then, of course, occasionally there are little ones, like Gemma (again not her real name) incidentally from the same school, who’s reaction ranges from apprehension to outright fear.

I blame the parents!

Seriously though, they are getting this reaction from somewhere. I have seen first hand parents telling children to “come away” and “don’t stare” and in some cases I’ve heard people say to their children “don’t look or the Boogie man will get you.”  

What is it with some people? 

The worse case I’ve ever seen was at a community event. I was with a colleague who happened to be a double amputee. So, he was a person of short statue.  I heard a man say to his young son, “Oh come and look at the funny little man”.

Seriously?

It’s important that we educate our children in this regard.  I’m fortunate to be working with a great charity called STEEL BONES.   An important strand to the charity’s work is education. The charity aims to dispel any negative or preconceived ideas about amputees and plans to educate both children and adults about the facts and reality of living with limb loss.

Together with STEEL BONES I offer a series of short, two-hour sports events to Primary school children delivered by qualified coaches but supported by amputees.

The objectives for the Limb-it-less games are two-fold:

The interaction of amputees and children through a shared sporting experience helps to challenge assumptions and break down barriers. It helps to overcome the “fear factor” The fear that this is different and therefore scary.

Secondly it helps the amputees, many of which may be new, with their rehabilitation”.

There are surely few things more traumatic than losing a limb. Coming to terms with a person’s new physical self can be a long and for some a painful journey. In some cases, self-esteem is threatened, and people lose confidence. Working with children can be enormously empowering. Playing games alongside young children in a safe and secure school environment will, in my view, be of tremendous benefit to any amputee and particularly to someone struggling with finding their way after a recent amputation.

It also helps to educate our children to be accepting and respecting of diversity. Coming together helps them be a bit more like Saffron and a bit less like Gemma.

STEEL BONES