ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the incidence of weight problems among disabled people, the components and achievements of the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) to date and its impact on access to healthy lifestyles for disabled people. It outlines the components delivered by the IFI to provide a proactive response to meet the needs of disabled people in a fitness suite environment and looks at fitness programmes for overweight and obese disabled men. When investigating the likely causes of disability there is evidence to suggest that there are gender variances affected by both lifestyle and employment profiles. For disabled people with limited use of leg muscles, upper body ergometers provide a similarly rhythmic and continuous alternative to conventional lower-body-biased cardiovascular equipment. For those who are paralysed, particularly in the large leg muscles, the challenge is to find the largest muscles of the upper body and get those working.
