Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 1 day ago
Wollongong residents speak with the Illawarra Mercury after new health data suggests that more than half of Illawarra residents do not exercise enough to meet physical activity guidelines. Videos by Adam McLean.
Transcript
00:00So how much do you think you eat in a day?
00:03Well, I feed him.
00:05So I get two lots of fruit
00:08and we definitely have the five serves of veg during the week.
00:11So it's during the day.
00:13So we will have some, well, tomatoes are fruit,
00:16but we'll have fruit and avocado, tomato for breakfast.
00:20There's always vegetables for lunch
00:23and there's a lot of vegetables for dinner,
00:25plus protein and carbohydrates.
00:27As far as minutes of exercise per day,
00:32do you think you'd be getting the recommended amount of that as well?
00:35Absolutely, yeah.
00:36Most of our exercise is either walking or cycling.
00:40The average cycling session would probably be two and a bit hours.
00:45So you've got your 120 minutes.
00:46A couple of times a week.
00:46A couple of times a week.
00:48We walk for at least an hour.
00:51Also a couple of times a week.
00:54Then there's the incidental exercise.
00:56Mowing lawns.
00:58People tend to overlook the incidental exercises that they do.
01:04Walking up and down the stairs at home,
01:06mowing the lawns, cleaning windows.
01:09Housework generally counts as exercise.
01:13Looking after your 100-year-old mum
01:15or while she's in full-time care,
01:18Irene's still basically running around four days a week
01:23doing the incidental things, the paperwork, shopping, things like that.
01:29But life does get in the way.
01:33I try to incorporate two serves of vegetables and fruit throughout my day.
01:38Mainly during breakfast, I'd have a fruit and then after dinner.
01:41So it's top and bottom end of the day.
01:43With lots of uni work, life can get pretty busy.
01:47It's definitely hard to find time to have exercise and time to yourself.
01:52In the morning, I like to put a lot of fruit and veggies in my breakfast to fill me up.
01:56And then also it's just a convenient snack during the day is fruit and veggies.
02:01So yeah.
02:02It's like I love walking and going to the gym.
02:04So I used to play netball but not anymore.
02:07But it's all right.
02:08Just uni and commitments take up a lot of my day.
02:12So that's all right.
02:13And work.
02:14So lack of routine, I think, is hard to fit it in.
02:19Yeah, just making it a priority.
02:21Exercise.
02:21Do you think you'd get the recommended amount of exercise per day?
02:24Definitely not.
02:25There you go.
02:26How much do you think you'd get in a week?
02:28It's hard to say because just pushing around in the wheelchair
02:33and doing everyday things is quite strenuous.
02:36So it kind of counts as exercise somewhat, I guess.
02:39But I don't actually officially really get out
02:44and go and push around on footpaths or anything.
02:47What would be the barrier for you?
02:50They're just, they're not level.
02:53The footpaths aren't level?
02:54Yeah, it's the hills and unlevel ground is definitely a barrier.
03:01Because you cannot, you can't control the intensity of your workout.
03:08And you're saying gyms, is that a...
03:10There's no such thing as wheelchair.
03:13Not that I know of.
03:15Gyms with equipment that have accessible equipment
03:19specifically designed for people in wheelchairs.
03:23Yeah, the equipment just doesn't,
03:26it's just not set up for someone like me.
03:28You can't, I'm not going to pay a gym membership to use dumbbells.
03:31I can do that at home, but, you know,
03:34um, yeah, things like bench press and rows and stuff like that,
03:40the machines are just not.
03:42I need to be able to stay in my wheelchair
03:45and do the exercise rather than transfer
03:48because I'm paralysed from the chest.
03:50I don't have any core strength or any balance.
03:53So I need to be able to stay in my chair
03:55and exercise basically.
03:58And that's just something you just don't see.
Comments

Recommended