In our second installment of #ExerciseRightWeek, we’re shining the spotlight on Michael and Jai
Michael and Jai will be working out alongside Nat at 10am this Saturday (May 30) on Facebook Live.
Will you be joining us? ♀️ ♂️
Michael and Jai have been working together, smashing serious fitness goals throughout COVID-19 restrictions, working out at Michael’s house and local park.
Michael, 23, is living with Fragile X Syndrome, moderate Autism Spectrum Disorder, intellectual disability and Anxiety.
Jai, who is an Allied Health Assistant and currently undertaking a masters degree to become an exercise physiologist, has created a personalised exercise program for Michael.
Jai has been with Therapy Care for close to two years and is super passionate about seeing clients achieve their physical goals and witnessing progress through guided exercise.
While Micheal finds coordination and learning new movements challenging, he excels in fine motor skills.
Jai says, “we overcome coordination and apprehension to new movements, by modifying exercises and breaking down the movement into part practice.
“Michael learns a new movement best when I break it up into segments and we practice each segment individually, before putting it together.”
As a result of Micheal’s regular workouts with Jai, paired with the social support services Michael receives from Therapy Care, Jai has noticed vast improvements in Michael’s overall health and wellbeing.
“Michael’s social skills, self-esteem and confidence both with himself and in group scenarios have all really improved. It’s great to see how much exercise has empowered Michael in other areas of his life.
“Even though we have just started a regular exercise routine with Michael, he has already great physical improvements, particularly in his cardiovascular fitness and endurance. This has increased Michael’s energy levels and he’s now eager to incorporate some strength training into his program,” says Jai.
Jai is setting Michael up to achieve new milestones, such as:
Independently exercising
Walking the dog twice a week
Playing basketball at his local park for 30 minutes each week
Increasing strength
Jai says, “The long term goal with Michael is creating healthy lifestyle habits for Michael to adopt for the rest of his life!”
