Exercise Is For Everyone: Daily Physical Activity Tips For the Visual Impaired - Guest Post

It is a known fact that regular exercising and leading an active life helps improve both the physical and the mental health. Training on a regular basis can help reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes type II, obesity, stress, depression and anxiety, among others.

This is why, everybody, including people who are visually impaired should try to increase their physical activity, in order to prolong their lives and improve their overall health. Plus, for children and adults with visual impairment, exercising can improve their overall comfort and success of everyday movement and of the ability to better complete daily activities.

The recommended fitness types which can have a positive effect on the mind and body are:

• Muscular strength training
• Muscular endurance training
• Cardiovascular endurance
• Body toning
• Flexibility of the joints

​Apart from taking part in various sports, tandem cycling, walking, running, swimming, going to the gym, there are ways to stay fit and active without leaving the premises of your home, safely and easily. Here are some types of exercise which visually impaired people can do at home or in their backyard, in order to improve their health:
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1. Rope Jumping. It can be done indoors or outdoors, slowly or at a quick temp. This exercise helps improve the muscular and aerobic endurance, the balance and agility of the person. To stay safe, the area can be marked with bright colored cones, towels, mats or other marks limiting the safe space for jumping.

2. Yoga. The relaxation which is associated with Yoga can be very helpful to people who are deafblind or visually impaired and are often faced with stressful situations in their daily lives. Yoga helps improve the flexibility and helps with weight loss and building muscle strength. There are DVD’s, books, and classes which help these people learn and practice Yoga with Braille and physical instructions.

3. Basketball. The person can practice dribbling while they are sitting down, walking or running. Apart from regular outdoor basketballs, balls with bells or lighter beach balls can be used as a safer option. The basket can be marked with a string with a bell attached on it, a metronome placed behind it or with the help of a friend or family member who makes noises by hitting on the rim of the basket. This type of activity can even be done without a basket and just with a partner with whom to practice passes, catching, bounce or chess passes and other movements. It helps stay fit, improves balance and orientation and is fun!


Whatever form of exercise or activity a person who is deafblind or visually impaired chooses, it will definitely have a positive effect on their health, their mental state, as well as on their ability to move around and cope with everyday chores and activities. With this type of overall improvement, surely the quality of life will improve as well. The stress of not being able to cope with simple daily tasks and move round comfortable will decrease and the confidence of the person will show significant improvement too!

About the Author:
Cara Haley is addicted to running and healthy food, loves taking pictures, and hiking with her family. She writes about sports gear, running shoes, and other sports related topics for ComfortHacks.