People who have lower body disabilities requiring the use of wheelchairs for locomotion are an extra-sedentary population due to limitations on their ability to do physical work. Unable to do work with the (normally large) muscles of the lower body, their work energy expenditure is limited to what can be accomplished with the smaller muscles of the upper body. Since some of the beneficial effects of exercise seem to be related to the total energy expended in vigorous activity rather than the relative intensity of the activity, wheelchair users are at an obvious disadvantages with respect to obtaining the benefits usually associated with vigorous activity. Conversely, they are at increased risk for the problems associated with physical inactivity.  

 

     The SCI population is the most common users among the wheelchair users population. SCI is damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function such as mobility or feeling. Frequent causes of damage are trauma (car accident, gunshot, falls, etc.) or disease (polio, spina bifida, Friedreich's Ataxia, etc.).  

 

     Person with SCI may be at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease due to decrease respiratory capacity, decreased lean tissue mass, increased rate of sedentary behavior and decreased in cardiopulmonary performance. Declines in cardiopulmonary performance can affect a person's ability to perform activities of daily living and may result in a shorter life span. In fact, cardio respiratory disease is one of the leading causes of death in the spinal cord injury population. As a result, there is an ever-growing need for physical fitness for individuals with spinal cord injury.