Staying Fit a Challenge

For almost all of us, staying fit is a very great challenge but when it comes to a blind person like me, the challenge is just that more challenging.  You may be asking yourself why and here is my incomplete list.

 

It is difficult for a blind person to engage in walking activities; we cannot see where we are going so we are unable to walk at a fast enough pace.

The same holds for jogging and running.

Many of the exercising machines have digital readouts so we are unable to utilize them.

Many of the exercise devices come with instructional DVDs and videos and it is hard for us to follow the visual instructions.

In many cases, it is difficult for us to negotiate the machines at gyms.

 

So how do I do it?  I have a treadmill at home and I use a talking timer of my own which is separate from my treadmill machine to time myself.  I have learned where the buttons are in order to set my speed. I have another device to help me stretch my muscles and do push-ups.  I also swim in my condo's pool. 

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and help lobby manufacturers of exercise equipment to make their digital readouts more accessible to those with vision problems.

Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.