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Healthy Eating & Physical Activity Categories
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Active for Health
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Age and Stage
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Infants, Children and Youth
- Child Who Is Overweight: Evaluating Nutrition and Activity Patterns
- Child Who Is Overweight: Medical Evaluation
- Eczema and Food Allergy in Babies and Young Children
- Feeding Your Baby: Sample Meals for Babies 6 to 12 Months of Age
- Finger Foods for Babies 6 - 12 Months
- Food Allergy Testing
- HealthLink BC Eating and Activity Program for Kids
- Healthy Eating for Children
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Your Vegetarian Baby: 6-12 months
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Your Vegetarian Toddler: 1-3 years
- Helping Your Child Who Is Overweight
- Interactive Tool: What Is Your Child's BMI?
- Iron-Fortified Infant Cereal Recipes: Finger Foods For Babies and Toddlers
- Making Family Meals Enjoyable
- Mealtime and Your Toddler
- Parenting Babies (0-12 months)
- Recipes for Your Baby 6 - 9 Months Old
- Recipes for Your Baby 9 - 12 Months Old
- Reducing Risk of Food Allergy in Your Baby
- Snack Ideas for Preschoolers
- Specialized Formula Shortage
- Vitamins and Minerals for Toddlers
- Your Toddler: Nutritious Meals for Picky Eaters
- Physical Activity for Infants, Children and Youth
- Older Adults
- Pregnancy
- Menopause and Perimenopause
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Infants, Children and Youth
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Being Active
- Health Benefits of Physical Activity
- Myths About Physical Activity
- SMART Goal Setting
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Getting Started
- Getting Started: Adding More Physical Activity to Your Life
- Quick Tips: Fitting Physical Activity Into Your Day
- Quick Tips: Getting Active as a Family
- Fitness: Adding More Activity To Your Life
- Getting Started With Flexibility and Exercise
- Fitness Machines
- Fitness Clothing and Gear
- Be Active: Move to Feel Good
- The Three Kinds of Fitness
- Set SMART Goals
- Overcoming Barriers: Adding More Physical Activity to your Life
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Choosing Your Activity
- How to Choose Safe Equipment
- Exercising While Sitting Down
- Fitness DVDs and Videos
- Tips for Picking the Right Activities
- Quick Tips: Getting in Shape Without Spending Money
- Fitness: Walking for Wellness
- Walk Your Way To Health
- Tai Chi and Qi Gong
- Water Exercise
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- Bob's Story: Biking for Health
- Exercise and Physical Activity Ideas
- Fitness: Choosing Activities That Are Right for You
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Staying Active
- Fitness: Getting and Staying Active
- Fitness: Making It a Habit
- Quick Tips: Having Enough Energy to Stay Active
- Quick Tips: Staying Active at Home
- Quick Tips: Staying Active When You Travel
- Physical Activity in Winter
- Quick Tips: Staying Active in Cold Weather
- Quick Tips: Staying Active in Hot Weather
- Injury Prevention and Recovery
- Fitness and Exercise Learning Centre
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Conditions
- Diabetes and Hypoglycemia
- Eating Disorders
- Healthy Eating for Disease Prevention
- Eating Right When You Have More Than One Health Problem
- Being Active When You Have More Than One Health Problem
- Physical Activity and Disease Prevention
- Anemia
- Arthritis and Osteoporosis
- Physiotherapy for Low Back Pain
- Low Back Pain: Exercises to Reduce Pain
- Cancer
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Digestive
- Managing Constipation in Adults
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People with Diverticular Disease
- Fibre and Your Health
- Lower Fibre Food Choices
- Eating Guidelines For Gallbladder Disease
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Lactose Intolerance
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People with Peptic Ulcers
- Bowel Disease: Changing Your Diet
- Celiac Disease: Eating a Gluten-Free Diet
- GERD: Controlling Heartburn by Changing Your Habits
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Controlling Symptoms with Diet
- Food Allergies
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Heart
- Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Coronary Artery Disease: Exercising for a Healthy Heart
- DASH Diet Sample Menu
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People Taking Warfarin Anticoagulants
- Healthy Eating to Lower High Blood Pressure
- Exercising to Prevent a Stroke
- Healthy Diet Guidelines for a Healthy Heart
- Heart Arrhythmias and Exercise
- Heart Failure: Eating a Healthy Diet
- Heart Failure: Track Your Weight, Food and Sodium
- Heart-Healthy Eating
- Heart-Healthy Eating: Fish
- Heart-Healthy Lifestyle
- High Blood Pressure: Nutrition Tips
- High Cholesterol: How a Dietitian Can Help
- Modify Recipes for a Heart-Healthy Diet
- Plant-based Diet Guidelines
- Peripheral Arterial Disease and Exercise
- Physical Activity Helps Prevent a Heart Attack and Stroke
- High Blood Pressure: Using the DASH Diet
- Healthy Eating: Eating Heart-Healthy Foods
- Heart Health: Walking for a Healthy Heart
- Izzy's Story: Living with the DASH Diet
- Exercise and Fibromyalgia
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Kidney and Liver
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People with Early Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Stages 1 and 2
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Prevention of Recurrent Kidney Stones
- Healthy Eating for Chronic Hepatitis
- Kidney Disease: Changing Your Diet
- Kidney Stones: Preventing Kidney Stones Through Diet
- Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
- Lupus: Healthy Eating
- Mutiple Sclerosis
- Parkinson's Disease and Exercise
- Sally's Story: Avoiding Metabolic Syndrome
- Spinal Cord
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Food and Nutrition
- About Healthy Eating
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Eating Habits
- Developing a Plan for Healthy Eating
- Drinking Enough Water
- Eating Healthy at Holiday Parties
- Eating Journal
- Emotional Eating
- Encourage Healthy Eating Away From Home
- Food Journaling: How to Keep Track of What You Eat
- Healthy Eating: Changing Your Eating Habits
- Healthy Eating: Getting Support When Changing Your Eating Habits
- Healthy Eating: Making Healthy Choices When You Eat Out
- Healthy Eating: Making Healthy Choices When You Shop
- Healthy Eating: Overcoming Barriers to Change
- Healthy Eating: Starting a Plan for Change
- Healthy Eating: Staying With Your Plan
- Healthy Eating to Decrease Stress
- Jaci's Story: Changing her Life With Small Steps
- Jeremy's Story: Focusing on Eating Habits
- Loralie's Story: It's Never Too Late
- Maggie Morries: Plan Ahead When You Eat Out
- Plant-based Foods
- Sugary Drinks and Other Beverages
- Sodium
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Nutrients
- Added Sugars
- Antioxidants
- Antioxidants and Your Diet
- Carbohydrate Foods
- Carbohydrate, Proteins, Fats and Blood Sugar
- Choosing a Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
- Cholesterol and Triglycerides: Eating Fish and Fish Oil
- Comparing Sugar Substitute
- Dietary Fats and Your Health
- Dietary Guidelines for Good Health
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- Eating Protein
- Calcium and Your Health
- Food Sources of Vitamin K
- Getting Enough Calcium and Vitamin D
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- Healthy Eating: Cutting Unhealthy Fats From Your Diet
- Healthy Eating: Taking Calcium and Vitamin D
- High Potassium Eating
- High Potassium Foods
- Iron and Your Health
- Iron in Foods
- Low-Potassium Foods
- Major Nutrients in Food
- Minerals: Their Functions and Sources
- Non-Milk Sources of Calcium
- Quick Nutrition Check for Protein
- Quick Nutrition Check for Protein: Sample Menus
- Quick Nutrition Check for Vitamin B12
- Types of Fats
- Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Adults
- Vitamins: Their Functions and Sources
- Food Labels
- Healthy Eating and Nutrition Topics A-Z
- Plan, Shop and Prepare
- Food, Water and Beverage Safety
- Canada's Food Guide FAQs
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Healthy Weights
- About Healthy Weights
- Genetic Influences on Weight
- Screening for Weight Problems
- Unplanned Weight Loss
- Quick Tips: Cutting Calories
- Physical Activity for Weight Loss
- Weight Loss by Limiting Calories
- Tips for Maintaining Weight Loss
- Choosing a Weight-Loss Program
- Boosting Your Metabolism
- Exercise Helps Maggie Stay at a Healthy Weight
- Healthy Eating: Recognizing Your Hunger Signals
- Hunger, Fullness, and Appetite Signals
- Weight Management
- Weight Management: Stop Negative Thoughts
- Maggie's Strategies for Eating Healthy
- Maggie: Making Room for Worth-It Foods
- Maggie's Story: Making Changes for Her Health
- Weight Management Centre
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Policies and Guidelines
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Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Making Bake Sales Delicious and Nutritious
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Boosting the Sales of Nutritious Food in Schools
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Food Fundraiser Ideas for Schools
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Involving Everyone in Implementing the Guidelines
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Selling Food and Beverages at School Sporting Events
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Planning Healthy Cafeteria Menus
- Healthier Choices in Vending Machines
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Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
- Provincial Nutrition Resource Inventory
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Forms and Tools
- Walking Log
- Exercise Planning Form
- Physical Activity Log
- Par-Q+ and ePARmed-X+
- Target Heart Rate
- Interactive Tool: What is Your Target Heart Rate
- Borg-Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale
- Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
- Heart Rate Calculator
- Overview of BC Provincial and Federal Nutrition Benefits Programs
- Body Mass Index (BMI)
- Body Mass Index (BMI) for Adults
- Interactive Tool: Do Your BMI and Waist Size Increase Your Health Risks?
- Measuring Your Waist
- Estimating Body Fat Percentage
- Factsheet Generator
- Fitness: Using a Pedometer or Step Counter
- Email a HealthLinkBC Dietitian
- Email a Qualified Exercise Professional
Topic Contents
Topic Overview
A spinal cord injury (SCI) makes movement difficult. Movement is what keeps your muscles and joints flexible and helps prevent spasticity. If you cannot move your muscles and joints easily, you may lose some of your range of motion. This will make it harder to perform daily activities, such as getting dressed or moving between your wheelchair and another location. Flexibility exercises can help you retain your range of motion.
Most people work hard to stay flexible. But it is possible to stretch too much. This can make it harder to balance and to do activities such as dressing yourself. Work with your rehabilitation team to come up with a stretching program that is right for you.
You may be able to do some of the flexibility exercises yourself. A loved one or therapist can help you with others. It may be convenient to do your stretches in the morning or evening at the same time you inspect your skin for pressure injuries.
Self-stretches
When you do these stretches, make sure you have something solid behind you that does not move. You can try the stretches in your wheelchair (make sure it is firmly locked) or in a bed against the headboard. Different locations might be better for different exercises. Experiment to see what works best for you.
Do all stretches gradually, and never force the stretch. Do not push or bounce the stretch. You should feel a "stretch," not pain. Breathe out as you begin the stretch, and breathe in while you hold the stretch. Breathe out as you relax the stretch.
How long and how often you do a stretch may vary. The information below shows general guidelines. Always ask your doctor about what is best for you.
- Lie on your back and extend your arms straight out to the sides with your palms turned up to stretch the front of your chest. Stay in this position for at least 15 to 30 seconds, and repeat 2 to 4 times. Or you can just lie in this position for about 3 to 5 minutes if it is comfortable for you. You can also stretch the front of your chest when you are sitting in a chair or wheelchair. With the chair in a doorway, raise your arm to the side and bend your elbow. Put your hand and forearm against the doorway and lean forward to stretch your chest and the front of your shoulder. Hold the stretch at least 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 2 to 4 times with each arm.
- Lie on your back and raise your arms straight up and over your head to stretch your shoulders. Stay in this position for at least 15 to 30 seconds, and repeat 2 to 4 times. Or you can just lie in this position for about 3 to 5 minutes if it is comfortable for you. You can also stretch your arms up over your head while you are sitting up.
- Place your left hand or wrist under your left knee, and pull your left knee up toward your chest. Hold the stretch for at least 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 2 to 4 times. Do the same exercise with your right hand and right knee.
- Sit with your left knee bent up toward your chest. Put your left hand and lower arm on the left side (outside) of your knee. Gently push the knee toward your right leg. Do not force the stretch. Hold for at least 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 2 to 4 times. Do the same exercise with your right hand and right knee.
- Sit with your left knee bent up toward your chest. Put your left hand and lower arm on the right side (inside) of your knee and gently push it away from your right leg. Do not force the stretch. Hold for at least 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 2 to 4 times. Do the same exercise with your right hand and right knee.
- Face a bed or chair that is about the same height you are sitting at. Put one leg on the bed or chair and keep it straight. Do not bend your knee. Do not bend forward as you do this, as it will stretch you too much. Hold this position for 3 to 5 minutes on each leg.
- Sit with your legs stretched out in front of you. Lean forward, and loop a strap around the bottom of your foot. Pull on the strap gently, and continue to lean forward while keeping your knees straight. Do not turn your foot to either side. Hold this stretch for about at least 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
- Spend time lying on your belly each day. People with SCI who are sitting most of the time can get tight muscles in the front of their hips and the back of their legs. Lying on your belly with your legs stretched straight out will help stretch these muscles. Try to relax all your muscles and stay in this position for at least half an hour. Some people even learn to sleep on their belly, so they are in this position all night.
Passive stretch
A passive stretch is a stretch where someone stretches a muscle for you. This type of stretch can be done for upper and lower body muscles. Your rehab team will be able to teach a loved one how to do these exercises. They include:
- Flexing and extending the hip, knee, shoulder, wrist, fingers, and elbow.
- Stretching the hamstring (the muscle on the back of the thigh) and foot and ankle muscles.
- Rotating the hip and shoulder.
Related Information
Credits
Current as of: December 13, 2021
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine
Brian D. O'Brien MD - Internal Medicine
Martin J. Gabica MD - Family Medicine
Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine
Nancy Greenwald MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Current as of: December 13, 2021
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine & Brian D. O'Brien MD - Internal Medicine & Martin J. Gabica MD - Family Medicine & Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine & Nancy Greenwald MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Learn how we develop our content.
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Contact Physical Activity Services
If you have questions about physical activity or exercise, call 8-1-1 (or 7-1-1 for the deaf and heard of hearing) toll-free in B.C. Our qualified exercise professionals are available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm Pacific Time. You can also leave a message after hours.
Translation services are available in more than 130 languages.
HealthLinkBC’s qualified exercise professionals can also answer your questions by email.
Contact a Dietitian
If you have any questions about healthy eating, food, or nutrition, call 8-1-1 (or 7-1-1 for the deaf and hard of hearing) toll-free in B.C. You can speak to a health service navigator who can connect you with one of our registered dietitians, who are available 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. You can also leave a message after hours.
Translations services are available in more than 130 languages.
HealthLinkBC Dietitians can also answer your questions by email.
Find Services and Resources
If you are looking for health services in your community, you can use the HealthLinkBC Directory to find hospitals, clinics, and other resources.