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 and can help users track their fitness progress. There is little data on how often adaptive exercise machines would be used if they were available in gyms, making gyms reluctant to purchase them.
As a result, few gyms have any of these items , and most people can’t afford to buy their own because these machines can cost as much as US$9,000. Some adaptive exercise equipment, however, doesn’t cost nearly .