Exercise for People with Spinal Cord Injury

This group will receive a 12-week exercise intervention that will educate and support the person's ability to exercise. Working with a trainer, the participant will attend a 12-week (3 x week) exercise program that has been personalized to their goals. Each session will include warm-up, stretching, cardiovascular exercises, strength exercises, and cool-down. Each session will be 1-2 hours in duration. The participants may wear accelerometers and heart rate monitors to help determine the level of intensity of the exercises, as they should be performing at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week. By the end of the 12-week program, the goal is for participants to guide their own exercise regimens.

This group will receive a 1-hour education session during which they will learn about the National Council on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) website, an information and resource center on health promotion for people with disabilities. During the session participants will be given an overview of the website and asked to find three resources they find of interest. Their strength and fitness will also be assessed by completing a 1-rep max test. The participants will then be asked to maintain their regular physical activity for the next 12 weeks and complete a weekly physical activity log to track their exercise participation. A staff member will phone each person every week for the 12-week period and have the participant report his or her physical activity during the week.