Sports and exercise are an intrinsic part of a healthy lifestyle. But for people with haemophilia things aren’t as straightforward as they seem. What type of exercise should be avoided, what sports can be recommended? And equally important: how to stick with an exercise regime?
It’s a conundrum every young haemophiliac faces: sports and exercise are very beneficial for limbs and joints, but they also bring a risk of bleeding. Any haemophiliac who has the plan to take up sports or exercise is strongly advised to take it up with their g.p. or with their haematologist. But there is also a new intiative called HeMove, that focuses mostly on a relatively safe form of exercise: walking.
Several haemophilia centers in Belgium have joined forces and lauched HeMove, a project that focuses on exercise for people with haemophilia. For this project, 50 patients are needed, to take part in a pilot study together with their families. They will start an exercise routine, supervised by a virtual fitness coach. Walking is the key element in these exercises.
During 8 weeks, the patients and their families will enroll in a training programme, complete with their own virtual coach who will give personalized tips and information using the AHVH’s Facebook page. Every family that participates will get an Activity Tracker which monitors how many footsteps the wearer takes. Special challenges are designed to stimulate the family teams to reach a certain target in the number of steps, or to compete against other teams.
By adding the element of friendly competition, the users are stimulated to walk the dog a bit more or a bit further, to walk somewhere instead of taking the car, or to go for a nice walk after dinner. The HeMove project was kicked off in february with a walk in the Zoniënwoud near Brussels.
Send an e-mail to hemove3@gmail.com or info@ahvh.be
Top