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Study Evaluates Manual Wheelchair Exercise Benefits |
People with disabilities can obtain health-enhancing benefits when they exercise moderately or vigorously. A person using a manual wheelchair can burn up to 120 calories in 30 minutes while wheeling at two mph on a flat surface; three times more than doing the same activity in a motorized wheelchair.
This is according to a first-of-its-kind review article written by University of Tennessee Professor David R. Bassett Jr., and Scott A. Conger. They reviewed more than 250 studies containing wheelchair-related energy expenditure data and identified 63 beneficial activities, ranging from being sedentary to household chores and transportation to exercise.
"It might be simply wheeling their chair along while taking their dog for a walk or playing wheelchair basketball," Bassett said. "You can still burn a significant number of calories."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Sciences’ recommendation is the same for both adults with disabilities and able-bodied people ̶ get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week.
The following is a list of wheelchair-related activities and the number of calories burned if performed by a 160-pound adult in 30 minutes:
• Sitting, watching TV: 40
• Dusting: 65
• Table Tennis: 80
• Vacuuming: 98
• Basketball (shooting baskets): 116
• Tennis: 149
• Basketball (gameplay): 221
• Nordic sit skiing: 428
From esciencenews.com, October 2011
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