Working out after a spinal cord injury can be challenging for many reasons:

• Access

• Costs

• Commute

• Time

In many cities, there are limited options (or no options!) for accessible gyms or fitness centers that cater to the needs of wheelchair users. In addition, out-of-pocket activity-based therapy and co-pays on insurance-based physical & occupational therapies can really add up. The time commuting to and from these facilities can be a burden when trying to work, go to school, be present for family and lead a normal schedule.

With these common challenges in mind, Zebrafish Neuro strives to make workouts accessible through simple equipment and guided home programs for spinal cord injury (and other neurological conditions). 

Check out this webinar on remote coaching and ideas for floor transfers.

Implementing SCI recovery programs in your own home can feel overwhelming and you may be asking yourself these questions:

• Can someone make progress through an at-home SCI recovery program?

• What SCI rehab exercises can you do at home?

• What equipment do you need for at-home SCI recovery programs?

• How do you transfer out of the wheelchair for exercises?*

• How can your partner, caretaker or friend help you with your exercises?**

*Check out this blog post specifically on floor transfers.

**Check out this online workshop for how partners and caretakers can best help with at-home programs.

With a few simple tools and the right coach or guide, at-home therapy programs for SCI can be accessible, sustainable and effective for the following goals:

• Building strength of preserved muscle groups for daily life

• Maintaining or improving joint mobility through high neurological tone 

• Recovery of function below the level of injury

• Sports performance for recreational and competitive adaptive activities

In this article, we outline four of the most important, yet cost-effective pieces of equipment for an effective SCI recovery home-workout program - Deck out your home workout space for less than $150! We have each of our 1:1 Remote Coaching clients invest in these affordable pieces to keep them feeling supported, challenged and progressing in their program.

For 1:1 coaching & programming support, learn more about our 1:1 Remote Coaching program here/book in a free Discovery Call here to discuss your goals.

Floor Mat 

As you may or may not already know, we at Zebrafish Neuro love to move on the floor! It provides a wide open space to stretch out without the fear of falling onto the floor. 

Check out our post on Instagram that gives you everything you need to know about why we believe so strongly in floor-based movement. 

Your standard yoga mat is likely too thin to provide enough padding and too narrow to roll around on. Instead, we recommend this 8ft x 4ft gymnastics mat that folds up into a 4ftx2ft stack. The mat is about 2” thick for ample padding and is wide enough to practice your X-rolls. 

If you have extra space in your living room, consider velcroing two of these mats together for more expansive movements like advanced rolling sequences or crawling.

Other options for floor mats include:

• A large area rug or carpeted area

• Multiple yoga mats laid out side by side

• Puzzle piece mats (commonly used for kids play areas or garage gyms)

9-12” Squish Ball

This ball is our favorite tool for supporting movement after SCI… so much so that we created our own ball! If you don’t have a squish ball yet, you NEED to stop what you are doing and order one (or two)! 

Every single home program we write for our clients involves the squish ball in some way. It’s extremely versatile to support SCI recovery programs through:

• Self-massage

• Hip and spine mobility drills

• Central nervous system support strategies

• Making exercises more challenging

• Making exercises less challenging

• Challenging stability in an exercise

• Increasing the range of motion available in a position

• Supporting the trunk or limbs during an exercise

Check out how ZN athlete Chelsea Z. demonstrates some of our favorite squish ball exercises here!

Resistance Band Kit

Resistance bands are a huge bang for buck when building your home workout space! They can be used to:

• Build shoulder and back strength through pulling, pushing and isometric exercises

• Support seated posture development with a lumbar sling

• Provide input to areas with a ‘fuzzy’ connection

• Create connection in fascial lines depending on your anchor placement and ‘line of pull’

For the most versatility, we recommend investing in this stackable resistance band kit, which includes:

• Several bands of increasing resistance (

• “Stackable” feature which means the ends have carabiners (see photo below) to attach to velcro loops or handles

• Velcro loops for wrists, arms or ankles

• Handles

• A door anchor

For individuals with limited grip strength: 

Use the velcro cuffs, these canvas straps, or these Y-loops around your elbows. This arrangement allows you to focus on building scapular and back strength without being limited by triceps, wrist or grip strength. 

How to set up bands:

Bands work best when they are secured to an anchor point near year floor space. These anchor points need to be secure enough so when you pull on the bands, or use them to support the weight of your limbs or torso, they don’t come free! You can do this in a few ways:

1. Use the door anchor that came in your kit (this only works if your workout space is near a door): place the door anchor at the desired height with the door closing TOWARDS you so that the door cannot become unlatched with a pull. Loop your bands through the door anchor and give them a good pull to test it out!

2. Loop your band around a sturdy piece of furniture: make sure it doesn’t slide up or down too much. And make sure it doesn’t knock anything over when you pull on it!

3. Install a wall anchor/eye hooks: This might be the best, most reliable no-fuss set-up once you get it going. If possible, install multiple anchor sites so you have options for in-the-wheelchair and on-the-floor exercises.

Sliders

Sliders can make exercises more challenging, asking for more control and stability, while making other movement more accessible by removing friction. 

These sliders come with two different surfaces on each side so you can use them either on carpet or hardwood/floor

• The smooth plastic side is to be used on carpet or turf.

• The cloth/sponge-like side is to be used on slicker mats, hardwood or tile.

These sliders have the perfect surfaces to glide on whatever floors you are using, but you can try using a Tupperware lid over carpet or a washcloth on hardwood until they arrive at your door!

We sometimes combine sliders and resistance bands to train deeper control, stability and force production. This truly makes for a whole-body movement experience!

Other helpful props for home programs that you probably already have around the house are:

• Large pillows (or a yoga bolster)

• Swiffer mop for upper body exercises

• Mirror for visual feedback on posture and alignment

• Your wheelchair!

Bonus Piece of Equipment:

Naboso Wedges

When working to reconnect to paralyzed areas, it is important to strive for neutral alignment & posture. Since our base of support influences how everything else in the system stacks up, a well-placed wedge can make all the difference to the comfort of the body* and the effectiveness of your exercises.

A few ways we use a wedge include:

• Propping up the pelvis out of posterior pelvic tilt

• Propping up the pelvis on one side to help the body feel level (this is great for those with discrepancies in glute muscle tissue bulk between the two sides)

• Propping up shoulders in supine so the chest muscles can relax and open naturally

• Propping up rotations in the trunk in supine (especially for those with scoliosis) to help the body feel supported and settled

• Placing under hands to relieve compression in the wrist during quadruped exercises

• Propping up areas of the foot to prevent ankles from rolling in or out

You can use any object that can safely prop up these areas, such as a rolled up towel or yoga wedge.

We love these wedges by NABOSO specifically because:

• They are small, easy to grab and easy to slide into place, wherever needed.

• The slightly sticky surface (silicone) does not slide out easily.

• The signature NABOSO texture provides sensory information to the skin for improved proprioception and grounding.

• Brightly colored so you never lose them!

A set of wedges in your home workout space provide sensory feedback for posture or facilitate a better position of joints during exercises.

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And there you have it: a complete home workout space for SCI recovery for less than a couple of in-person sessions with a trainer or therapist. 

The equipment we laid out in this article are great basics to start your home workout space. Considering how much traditional SCI rehab medical equipment costs, these simple pieces are a very small investment - financially and the physical space in your home - towards creating an accessible and sustainable home program that you can use whenever you want (and even take with you when you travel!). 

Once you have your materials, take some dedicated time to configure your space: collect all your props in an attractive basket, install any wall anchors you need, and keep your mat out (if possible) to encourage you to move often. The whole idea of creating this space for yourself is to create an accessible movement routine for a healthier, more active lifestyle where you can move more on your own. 

So, what happens next?

We have a lot of exercise tutorials using this equipment on our Instagram, but if you prefer some 1:1 guidance in curating your at-home SCI recovery exercise program, please get in touch!

We have several options to get you started on your movement journey! From self-paced online programs to group coaching and 1:1 coaching, we are sure to have something to help you, no matter your budget, availability, level of injury or stage of recovery. Find all of this information on our website or you can book a free call to discover what services our team recommends for you.