Show up. That is Rule No. 1 on quadriplegic Rob Simon's list of ways to start an exercise program if you have a disability.

"Then it is, give your best effort on that day," the 51-year-old Simon said. "I do the most and the best I can each day."

The Boisean lost most of the use of his arms and legs when he broke his neck in a diving accident roughly 18 years ago at C.J. Strike Reservoir, south of Mountain Home.

After months of hospitalization, physical therapists helped Simon start exercising. He is an unusual quadriplegic because he can walk a bit with forearm crutches, he said.

"This was a gift, and I wanted to make good on it, Simon said of the movement in his legs. "I've been an athlete all my life, so in my case, it never was a stretch for me (to exercise), and it's totally necessary."

Simon works out up to two hours each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Saint Luke's Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Services in East Boise.

He rides a stationery bicycle and uses an arm-powered bicycle to get a cardiovascular workout, and he does circuit weight training.

He loves the Elks.

"It's like a health club for crippled people," he said.

He doesn't care that advocates for people with disabilities have spent years trying to erase the word "cripple" from our vocabulary. "I'm not p.c.," he said.

Simon doesn't want your pity, and he says people with disabilities need to let their self-pity go. "Don't be whiny." It's a waste of time, he says.

He doesn't much care for being singled out as an example to others either. But Susan Gordon, a physical therapist for Elk's rehab services, says he is.

Gordon says there are a broad range of disabilities that keep people from exercising, from arthritis to strokes, accidents and illnesses that attack people's nervous systems.

The rehab services at the Elk's help 12,000 patients a year with a variety of therapies, including physical therapy, which can help people with disabilities achieve their full potential.

It also offers classes for people with arthritis, one of the most common conditions that can cause people to skip exercise. Water workouts are good because they help people build strength, but ease the pressure on joints.

Common barriers to exercise are fear of getting hurt or of looking out of place at gyms, Gordon said. But exercising has many concrete benefits, she said. For example, you may be able to get up in the bleachers during a Boise State University football game or do yard work again.

Here are tips from Gordon for starting regular exercise:

What do you like to do? If you pick an activity you enjoy, you are more likely to keep doing it.

Start slowly. Talk to your health care provider for information specific to your disability. One rule of thumb for people with arthritis: If your joints still are sore two hours after your workout, you are doing too much too soon.

Lifting weights. For the first two weeks, focus on using proper form as you lift. That gives your body time to adjust to new demands on your muscles and tendons. After that, increase the amount of weight you lift no more than 10 percent a week, depending on how sore you are.

Warm up for at least five minutes.

If you get around in a wheelchair, be creative in using gym equipment. Get advice from a health-care provider. "We have some people who we just show them how to use things differently," Gordon said.

Get a personal trainer if you can afford it. Ask about trainers' credentials. They will need training to know which exercises work - or not - for specific disabilities. For example, if people with multiple sclerosis get too hot when they exercise, they can suffer from increased weakness. People with osteoporosis should avoid exercises that involve bending at the waist.

The benefits of exercise can last a lifetime, Simon said. If he had not spent 17 years exercising regularly, he would be in rough shape. "I would be in way worse pain, and I would have difficulty moving," he said.

Colleen LaMay: 377-6448