Client Bios

James sustained his injury in the summer of 2013 when he fell off of a boat and was diagnosed with a C4-6 spinal cord injury about 30 days after. Before he started coming to Push to Walk, James had an exercise bike and a sit-to-stand that he would use at home, but he knew he needed something more intensive. James heard of Push to Walk through word of mouth. After doing a bit of research, he decided to become a Push to Walk client and now trains here once a week for his 2 hour sessions.

James’ Push to Walk trainer, Cory, says James’ workouts have changed over time. “When James first started coming here we were working on a full body strength program using various machines in the gym to increase range of motion and strength throughout his entire body.  Recently he started using the RT 600 and he really enjoys it,” says Cory.

In addition to the RT 600, James’ workouts mainly focus on kneel-walk. “Kneel-walk means he is on the floor in a kneeling position with his upper body supported in a walker.  Then using his legs, crawls across the floor on his knees,” says Cory. This technique was implemented for James in particular because he was just too big for the walkers that we have here and the crawling provides him with another way to simulate the walking pattern and also provides weight bearing through his knees.

As far as his everyday life, James says he has built more strength and endurance and continues to work on what he’s learned at Push to Walk while he is at home. According to him, a major benefit of coming to Push to Walk is the inspiration from seeing others working out, and mimicking some of those exercises while he is at home.

From James’ point of view, Push to walk is far better than traditional rehab centers. When he reflects on in-patient rehab, James says a lot of expenses come down to overnight stays, meals, and not enough emphasis on one-on-one physical therapy. He says he even also found out patient rehab to not be very beneficial either. James says he would recommend Push to Walk to others and that it is definitely worth the cost. Outside of training at our facility, James goes to Magee Rehabilitation in Philadelphia twice a week. There he does locomotor training, uses a walker, and Rifton machine. When he has free time, James enjoys relaxing and watching movies.