The CP Diary

The word yoga means “union” in Sanskrit, the language of ancient India where yoga originated.   In yoga this is thought to refer to the union between the mind, body and spirit.

The specific health benefits you can expect to enjoy from doing yoga regularly can include:

Stretching your body in new ways will help it to increase flexibility helping to achieve a greater range of motion to muscles and joints;

Many yoga poses require you to support the weight of your own body including balancing on one leg or supporting yourself with …

It’s a while since I added to my Exercise blog so I thought I would take this opportunity to write about Pilates.

Pilates is an exercise method designed to strengthen and restore the body to balance.  It is based on an understanding of the body’s muscular and skeletal systems.

While is can be done at home, taking a Pilates class is usually the best way of starting. Classes focus on specific areas individually, whilst also using exercises to re-educate the whole body to restore it to optimum muscular and skeletal function …

As a child and having Cerebral Palsy I wasn’t keen on swimming, because people would constantly stare at me. Swimming is something that everyone can do; it’s not age related and benefits everyone.

About swimming

Swimming is known for it’s all round aerobic exercise because it works all the major muscle groups and targets all areas of the body. It is also easy to tailor the different strokes to exercise specific parts of the body, depending on the stroke. Because of the constant resistance to the water, swimming is one of the best exercises for improving strength, particularly in the upper body…

Over the years I have been lucky enough to join a gym, but having cerebral palsy made it very difficult for me to work out on some of their equipment. It also never made any difference to the little muscle tone I have on my left side or my aerobic fitness because I am dealing with a brain injury and cannot exercise for long.

I have recently taken to climbing stairs as an exercise. The following information may help other people think about this type of exercise.

Its advantages:

• Climbing stairs is low impact and is safe on the knee joints;
• It can be done any time of day;
• Climbing stairs tones the leg muscles and supports the heart;

Cycling is another form of exercise that is easy and fun to do. Not only is it good for brain cells but it also helps with expanding lung capacity. It’s an exercise all family members can participate in.

Cycling helps us sleep better. Research carried out at Stanford University School of Medicine on insomniacs, concluded that those insomniacs who cycled a minimum of between 20-30 minutes every other day, reduced time on getting to sleep by half an hour and sleeping through, increased by an hour.

Other research also suggests that people who …

Walking is something I would love to do more of, but dealing with cerebral palsy somewhat limits my good intentions of going for a walk. I do, however, walk round my garden.

We know that a healthy diet and exercise are a good combination to a successful life but American research suggests that around 50% of American people are not involved in regular physical activities. Those people who walk reduce their risk of life threatening diseases like heart attacks, cancer or a stroke …

Depending on how bad ones CP is depends on what stretches and exercise a physical therapist will recommend. No two people with CP are alike and therefore no two treatment programs are likely to be the same. As a general rule of thought neuro-physiotherapists (who deal with brain injuries) who deal with CP patients, will apply techniques that work on muscle stiffness and tension that is a characteristic of cerebral palsy.

The techniques include both a stengthening and stretching component. Stretches will aim to apply a constant pull of the muscle whilst being gentle at the same time …

I am beginning to understand after such a long time, why the exercises I used to do as a child didn’t help my muscle tone and how important it is, not only to be able to exercise, but to find the right ones that help with CP. Obviously the extent of the disability very much depends on the affected part of the brain.

People who have cerebral palsy are less likely to be able to exercise, which will increase their sedentary lifestyle. This may increase their risk of developing heart disease; obesity; diabetes and certain types of cancer. Any type …