Exercise is crucial to maintaining good health and one of the best ways to reduce stress and improve your mood, especially for those of us with MS. But how can you stay active when your body just doesn’t move like it used to? We’ve compiled 3 ways to stay active with limited mobility to help you get moving.

Stay Active By Swimming & Water Exercise

Being in the water is freeing for those of us with limited mobility. The weightlessness makes it easier to move joints and experience a fuller range of motion without putting too much stress on your body. If you are just getting started, don’t feel like you have to swim laps to exercise in the water. Simply walking back and forth in waist to chest high water is a great workout. Many gyms offer flotation dumbbells for low-impact resistance training. Just being in the water and moving as much as you are able to is enough. If you are wheelchair bound, look for a pool that has lift access.

Stay Active By Stretching

Stretching is incredibly important, especially if you have limited mobility. Every day, take the time to move all of your joints a little bit more than you usually would. If you have a friend, spouse, or caregiver, ask them to help stretch you out. Stretching is good for your body and can actually help increase mobility over time (or at least keep you from losing it more quickly). If you don’t move your body, it will eventually lock up so you need to keep your joints moving every day.

Stay Active With Wheelchair Exercise Routines

You can do quite a few exercises while seated in a wheelchair. Depending on your upper body strength, you can use small dumbbells (canned goods work well too) or just your own body weight. The following are some examples of wheelchair exercises you can do. Do each one for as many repetitions as you are comfortable and build up your tolerance over time.

• Do arm circles backwards and forwards.

• Reach as high over your head as possible, and then bend forward and reach for your toes (only as far as is comfortable).

• Do neck rolls in both directions.

• Sit straight up in your chair and contract your abdominal muscles while you count to 5 and then release.

It’s possible to stay active with limited mobility; you just have to adapt exercises to fit with your abilities.