The Adaptive Games: My Experience

Yesterday, on Sunday the 10th of September, I alongside my father participated in the 2023 Wodaptive Games in St. Albans.

The games pitted able-bodied athletes with adaptive participants, with disabilities, ranging from arthrogryposis to spina bifida, alongside man more categories of adaptability.

The main category I was assigned was Intellectual, mainly due to my Asperger's Syndrome and hemiplegia on my right side. The event was split into many heats, beginning around 10 AM after a demonstration of the specific workouts for each heat held at 9 AM, from shuttle runs in workout type 1 to burpees in workout type 3.

The first heat for workout type 1 began for my team 'For the Neurodiverse' began promptly at 10 AM. The main specifications for this workout were a combination of a 20, 20, and 2 strategy, which referred to doing 20 calories on either a SkiErg or a conventional rowing machine, 20 plate hops or skipping rope jumps, and 2 synchronised sit-ups.

One thing that I had to remind myself and my father, was pacing, as I had the unfortunate regard to speed up, completely disregarding the 'synchronised' element of the exercises.

For the 3 heats that we participated in, there were 1-hour gaps between heats, for us that meant our recovery times were as follows: Heat 1 WOD 1 - 10:30 AM, Heat 2 WOD 2: 11:30 AM and the final recovery time was extended by 30 minutes due to the requirement for either a rowing machine or SkiErg to be positioned in every lane. That moved the recovery time back to 1:30 PM, completing the gauntlet at 3:55 PM.

From the first few sessions with Alternative Movement to the first competition a little over a year later, I can surely say that the year of training was 100% worth it, and I'm now on the roll for the next competition in Kidderminster on February 11 2024.

Thank you so much Alternative Movement.

I hope to continue training with you in the future.