The parking lot at the Les Chater YMCA is full. Some are here for family swim, others are visiting the library, but the majority can be found sweating and straining on the second floor where the cardio and weight machines are located.
One of these, Mackenzie Clark, is here for her first workout.
Clark, 17, has cerebral palsy and is confined to a motorized wheelchair. As a client of the McMaster Children?s Developmental Rehabilitation Program (which provides rehabilitation services to kids age 10 to 18 with neurological and/or developmental disabilities), she?s participating in Y Fit 4 U ? a joint initiative between McMaster Children?s Hospital and the Les Chater YMCA.
Launched in September 2010, the partnership allows clients of CDRP to visit the YMCA for a weekly workout. The hope is that the participants will gain confidence by being active in a community setting and integrate physical activity into their daily lives.
Over the course of 13 weeks, YMCA trainers and CDRP physiotherapists work to tailor exercise programs that target each client?s individual fitness goals ? anything from weight loss to increased overall fitness to muscle strengthening. Trained volunteers (two to each client) assist with exercises and equipment setup, gradually allowing clients to assume full responsibility for the workout. Physiotherapists make ongoing adaptations to accommodate physical abilities.
For instance, Clark?s disability affects her grip on free weights, so Lindsay Bray, a physiotherapist with McMaster Children?s Hospital, substitutes weighted bands that can be strapped around her hands. When Clark uses an arm cycling machine, the seat slides back to make space for her wheelchair.
Since the program started, 44 kids have enrolled. Its popularity means there is a six-month wait list.
?The kids love it,? says Genevieve Hladysh, general manager of Community Health Program Development for the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford. ?They love being in the Y and being in a vibrant healthy place.?
According to Bray, this is an important attitude to foster. Kids who are active in their teens tend to become adults who are active. Inactive kids suffer the consequences as adults and for those with disabilities like Clark?s, the negative effects are magnified. Without regular exercise, cardiovascular health suffers, muscles and joints may stiffen, and conditions like obesity and osteoporosis can develop. With exercise however, the quality of day-to-day life improves.
Kyle Todd, 17, was referred to Y Fit 4 U by his CDRP physiotherapist in 2011, months after he underwent surgery for spastic diplegia ? a form of cerebral palsy that affects his leg muscles. Since finishing the program, he has started attending the Thursday night drop-in that was developed in response to graduates who wanted to continue working out independently.
?I know I?m improving,? says Todd. ?I can see it every day. My legs are more stable and my hip doesn?t sway. I can do more now than I could before and I know that if I keep coming, I?ll be able to do even more.?
Todd has also started volunteering with Y Fit 4 U, something three additional former clients have done. ?We are very grateful to them,? says Bray. ?They are able to relate and empathize much better with our clients, which is engaging and motivating.?
They were also the inspiration for the newest component of Y Fit 4 U ? an online forum, funded in part by the Hamilton District Society for Disabled Children. It?s not often that you hear about the Internet being used as a tool to increase physical activity, but Bray says it came about when they realized volunteers and clients were using Facebook to discuss and confirm workout dates.
The hope is that the site will be another venue for encouragement. On it, clients are able to log their physical activity, ask questions of physiotherapy students, chat, and hopefully motivate each other to maintain consistent workout schedules within and outside of Y Fit 4 You. To gauge success, site moderators will administer online surveys and regular questionnaires over the next six months.
?The program is all about maximizing independence and empowering the kids to take ownership of their fitness now,? says Bray. She says it?s important to note that clients won?t likely see major fitness gains until they start regularly engaging in physical activities (like sledge hockey, swimming and wheelchair basketball) outside the program, but Y Fit 4 U is a big step toward that goal.
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
Article source: http://www.thespec.com/living/healthfitness/article/679826--y-program-sets-kids-on-road-to-fitness
Source: http://www.childrenhealthwizard.com/y-program-sets-kids-on-road-to-fitness
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