Swimming, Biking and Running Best Therapy for CP

We've had one of those winters which incites us to say things in the summer like, "I really hate winter." The truth is, I don't hate winter because it's winter, but because we get extremely sick and our activities, training, nutrition, and positive mental attitude are just off, no matter how hard we try to maintain our normal lives. My calf rip and subsequent blood clot meant we decreased our workouts. Then I suffered a very serious bleed, which finally couched me for many days. Then bronchitis and colds, and then a second round of bronchitis which became pneumonia, for all of us, meant a lot of sleepless nights and inactivity. After about 2 months where the kids missed their morning runs, 4-5 days/week of swimming and daily biking (indoors around the kitchen island), I noticed Alex has started to walk on his toes on his weak side, and to crumple his left arm up into a ball. In short, the lack of our therapeutic activities meant that Alex's tight side has become seriously tighter, at a time when he has been growing quickly. I have always said that the best therapy for him is not the 20 minutes expensive sessions with a professional therapist, but the daily physical triathlon activities we do: swimming, biking and running. Unfortunately, this winter proved my theory correct. Now we are facing an uphill battle to get those muscles back in use. With temps in the teens and ice covering our trails, we are faced with all indoor activities. Wearing shoes and a brace on his weak foot, we are now running 30 minutes every morning around the island. I have Alex in the pool, almost every day. I have also encouraged him to get back on his bike as well. We do much of this exercise to music and I try to make it fun. It is going to continue to be a long winter, despite what the groundhog said, and I need to find a way to return a bit of lightheartedness to our workouts. If you have a child with cerebral palsy, or even if you have a child with no injuries, to the best of your child's abilities, spend some time each week engaged in three activities: swimming, biking and running. You will be building important muscles groups and brain synapses.