Walking Sticks for Adaptive Hiking and Fitness

Three people prepare to walk with sticks.

        It occurred to me recently that the walking stick may be the oldest, and indeed most ancient, of adaptive equipment. What early human, or even creature, picked up a stick and used it to aid balance? That moment is for sure shrouded in the mists of time. 

        A natural, sturdy stick can be used as a crutch or a staff, providing balance for anyone, regardless of age or ability, while hiking on rugged or slippery terrain, or purely to stay upright and assist motion. The human history of walking sticks is quite interesting - for further info, click here.

AccessSportsAmerica Offers Personal Fitness Training in Boston

This feature Guest Post by Mary Jane Fietze was originally published in the Winter 2016 issue of Disability Issues,a publication of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Photos provided by Nate Berry of AccessSportsAmerica. Thank you AccessSportsAmerica for focusing on fitness for people with disabilities!!!

Are you looking for a place to work out but are intimidated by the bulked-up body-builders that look like Arnold Schwarzenegger at your gym?  Is the equipment simply not made for someone with your disability?  Have you employed a personal trainer whom, frankly, did not understand your disability?  Does this sound like a TV ad that you might hear after all your New Year’s Resolutions are broken?  Well, expect the unexpected.