| TO THE READER OF THIS INFORMATION This information is unusual and using a computer website for this info instead of a personal pitch is really weird, imho. My ability to speak/explain is severely limited. Beyond a few words you would likely hear a pile of gibberish or just silence. The following then is my attempt to communicate this concept to you. There is quite a bit of information, so you can read it at your own leisure. There seems to be a certain set of criteria that allows anyone (disabled or not) to live a full-happy life. Indispensable to this are nutrition and appropriate exercise (muscle-work). A few have asked for a form of expertise, as a guarantee that this notion is ‘serious enough’ to warrant their involvement. All I can contribute here is expertise-at-being-disabled. The concept is by no means complete as is. I need input in several areas and hope others’ ideas will be forthcoming. Being disabled teaches me some hard facts about limitation. I, like many other disabled folk, do not exercise because my muscles cannot get a (‘You’re in the groove!’) signal. All aerobic exercise demands a sustained, coordinated input - a cadence. Since this is presently beyond my capacities, I do not exercise. This situation is widespread across the disabled world. THE GOGI: my invention fills this gap. I have invented a rather simple device (see below) that does not rely on any muscle input at all. Every part of a human’s body can be exercised not just specific muscle groups (as does almost all other special exercise apparatus) ... so this method applies to people with quadriplegia, or mental disabilities, accident victims, folks recovering from surgery, the elderly - on and on. It is based on the theories of the mini-trampoline known as a ‘rebounder’. Exercise not only tones muscles, it also helps in breathing air, digesting food and clearing waste ... even sleeping. Most ‘couch potatoes’ get much more exercise than many of us do ... just walking into a bathroom three or four times each day is in the same league (for many of us) as an athlete doing the 100-meter dash! The major point-of-reference in this kind of aerobic exercise is the lymphatic system. It usually drains all waste but it does this via muscle activity. When there is little or no muscle movement, there is no lymph drainage. This gets (for disabled folks) particularly troublesome since a major part of this network is the thymus gland and its excretions. The thymus gland is a large part of immunity. This is why many disabled folk can’t seem to shake a severe cold or flu. [They have little capacity to confront viruses or fungi, since the thymus gland’s immune functions are ‘locked-in’ by a stagnant lymph flow] REBOUND THEORY – BACKGROUND At first glance, exercise seems to be ridiculously impossible for many (if not most) FA'ers. [Friedreich’s Ataxia(FA) is my disabling disease. It is the genetic form of multiple sclerosis.] One should not speak of chronic ailment and exercise in the same breath. I do so, because I believe the benefits of exercise make it absolutely essential for us to exercise - and exercise often! However, this effort cannot be embraced to the detriment of adequate sleep. And sleep varies considerably from season to season, and according to Dr. Irving Dardik (http://www.dardikinstitute.org/ or http://www.lifewaves.com/ ) daily rest is critical. [He was the chief medical officer for the American Olympic team at Atlanta, USA.] If an FA’er decides to exercise, we can make adaptations to the kinds of exercise that are promoted as healthy. We must also look at our own capacities and develop programs to suit both. The forms that programs of exercise take are very much determined by our blood-type. This seems like an unusually strange statement. However, this idea is developed by Peter D'Adamo in his book 'Eat Right 4 Your Type' (1996). It is clear that we FA'ers are not going to play regular sports like basketball, hockey, soccer, football, baseball, or golf, and probably not sky-diving, nor bungie-jumping. Probably not volleyball, nor tennis ... maybe not even 'bar hopping' is in the cards for us. The view of an FA-exercise program is even more difficult to accept because a lot of people (including us) measure status by what they can 'do'. This is sometimes called 'achievement'. FA'ers can pioneer a 'hard lesson' - re-learn how to become human before becoming 'achievers.' The benefits of physical work and exercise are not only seen in the body builder or the athlete, but are the primary way that energy is made and used. Our bodies were built for movement. To stop physical activity is to invite death. A living being is one in motion! In proper brain development, motion is more necessary than the stimuli of sound or light2. Exercise can be as simple as pushing and pulling a wheelchair; or, causing a cycle of contracting and relaxing stomach muscles. Sitting and watching TV is not exercise! &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Types of Exercise A) Isotonic. This form of exercise builds strength and tone in the muscle groups exercised. It is probably the easiest and most convenient for FA'ers to do. This exercise consists of pushing or pulling against an object that is difficult or impossible to move. Examples are::: pushing one hand against another, or trying to lift the seat you're sitting on. You hold the pressure for about 5 seconds then release. Repeat often throughout the day. Grab different objects and pull - push in different directions. Pull a rope, squeeze a ball ... or try laughing 'til it hurts. B) Body Building or Weight Training. The benefits of this type of exercise for an FA'er has mixed reviews. One fellow says that it helped to slow the progress of his FA. Another said that he now feels that it had actually hastened his degeneration. Physical stress of this kind should be monitored closely by a knowledgeable assistant, and you should be careful not to do too much. Exercise will help you but it won't cure you. Nutrition is particularly important for the FA'er, especially if he or she has a tendency toward diabetes with a risk of hypoglycemia. A very important consideration is that weight training is often a community sport and takes place in a public or private gymnasium. This can help overcome the sense of isolation that many FA'ers feel. Talking and joking with others doing some of the same exercises improves both morale and self-esteem. NOTE: Generating a lot of sweat/body-heat depletes the body's store of zinc. In particular, weight training calls for adequate nutrition tailored to our unique needs. C) Stretching and Balance. This form of exercise can help a number of coordination problems associated with FA. It is most helpful to be guided by knowledgeable teachers. This is especially true in Yoga or T'ai Chi. Swimming is highly recommended for FA'ers. Exercise in the supporting medium of water permits a wider range of movements, involving more muscles, than those carried out on "dry land." D) Aerobics. Without doubt this kind of exercise (for blood-type O's)3 is 'king' when it comes to health benefits for the exerciser4. However, jogging, dancing, cross-country skiing, and the like, are simply not practical for most FA'ers. We need, I think, a closer inspection of the mechanics of aerobics before we ‘give-up’. It is estimated that through the oxygenation of cells, ‘normal’ mitochondria will produce 46 units of energy for every unit of input. FA'ers have two problems here: 1) they haven't even got that one unit of energy input; 2) they (like most disabled folks) don't have the muscle coordination demanded as input by this type of exercise. One of the most efficient and effective motions for aerobic exercises is the up-down-up motion that involves the least jarring possible. Many aerobic exercises embody this up-down-up motion: skipping; bouncing on a pogo-stick; or bed-bouncing - a motion that children love. So do several forms of dancing: polkas, square dancing, some traditional African dances. Jogging, walking briskly, and aerobic exercise classes incorporate much up-down-up motion. Some of these (as has been noted) may not be practical for most FA'ers. OTHER DEVICES: In recent years, a form of exercise has been used to do many different things. It is called ‘whole body vibration’ and utilizes a vibrating surface to elicit results. The rebounder and such ‘vibration machines’ employ the same principle – the up-down-up motion – but the vibration devices employ many more such movements per minute and much shorter ones, too. Here are some currently marketed: http://www.versaclimber.com/VC_Exervibe_VC.htm http://www.soloflex.com/index.asp?m=toolbar&d=wbv&sd=about&p=1 http://www.wholebodyvibes.com/personal.htm http://www.powerplateusa.com/Index.aspx However (and this has not been studied), The advantage of the Gogi (see below) is the variation of rhythm that vibration devices do not employ. APPLYING THIS CONCEPT TO DISABLED FOLKS There are also ways in which the up-down-up motion can be achieved even when the exerciser remains passive. Traditional Eskimos used a blanket-toss. And today disabled people are riding horses; the gait of the horse bounces the rider up and down, and in the process delivers an aerobic workout!5 The trampoline is often seen in modern gymnasiums. Today, a mini-trampoline, called a rebounder, is being sold for home use. Instead of bouncing high as with the trampoline, the exerciser bounces only a few inches only more often. The exercise is unique because the aerobic workout affects every cell within the body. Each cell is stressed by repeatedly altering the gravitational forces acting upon it, improving its respiration and health. 
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