People with physical and mobility disabilities need to work out, but there are a lot of obstacles in their way [Video]

Although wheelchair users, visually impaired people and others with mobility and physical disabilities need consistent exercise, it’s often hard for them to work out. In many cases, they can’t get access to “adaptive” exercise and sports equipment – meaning machines, weights and other devices that have been modified or engineered for ease of use by people with disabilities.

High costs, steep learning curves and limited access constrain their use.

To reach that conclusion, I teamed up with Helara Wijesundara, who like me is a biomedical technologies researcher, to see what’s getting in their way. We published our findings in the Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology Journal in July 2024. We reviewed more than 40 products and over 20 articles that researchers have published on this topic.

Limited access

There are four kinds of adaptive fitness tools on the market: exercise equipment and accessories, exercise machines, sports equipment and fitness apps.

For instance, adaptive rowing machines, treadmills and similar kinds of equipment are easy to use …