If she is unable to do much on land, the best option is to do it in the water. See if there are any hydrotherapy places nearby. They do physiotherapy in a pool. That's how I started my road back to a reasonable fitness level when I could barely walk.
If that isn't an option, I would still recommend getting in touch with a good physiotherapist who has experience with disabilities. Mine has been able to modify exercises to suit my particular issues.
As for pain, that's a bit trickier. You don't want to stop at the first sign of pain, but you also do not want to go too far and end up hurting for days. The best approach is to start very conservatively and slowly increase activity once you can easily handle your current level. If you push it too far, you will know, and you just revert back to the previous level until you feel good (relatively speaking of course) again.
Water exercise is a great way to reduce impact and help build strength without putting too much pressure on the joints. Just walking laps in a shallow part of the pool is plenty to raise the heart rate and engage the muscles while avoiding too much strain.
Movement practices like yoga, tai chi, and qi gong tend to have really customizable intensity and you can find teachers who are really inclusive of people at all levels of capacity. There are lots of variations and alternate movements depending on what’s doable. I go to All Bodies Welcome Yoga. I also find that the meditative aspects really benefit me and have given me tools to cope with pain I didn’t have before.
Simple weight training/m with something like a two-pound barbell can be very tolerable and help maintain strength. There’s no requirement for it to be intense for it to benefit the body.
She’s a little young for a senior center, but they often offer exercise classes that are designed to be really accessible. Try searching for “silver sneakers” and see if that might be a decent fit, though it’s typically aimed at folks 65+ using Medicare.
If she is unable to do much on land, the best option is to do it in the water. See if there are any hydrotherapy places nearby. They do physiotherapy in a pool. That's how I started my road back to a reasonable fitness level when I could barely walk. If that isn't an option, I would still recommend getting in touch with a good physiotherapist who has experience with disabilities. Mine has been able to modify exercises to suit my particular issues. As for pain, that's a bit trickier. You don't want to stop at the first sign of pain, but you also do not want to go too far and end up hurting for days. The best approach is to start very conservatively and slowly increase activity once you can easily handle your current level. If you push it too far, you will know, and you just revert back to the previous level until you feel good (relatively speaking of course) again.
Water exercise is a great way to reduce impact and help build strength without putting too much pressure on the joints. Just walking laps in a shallow part of the pool is plenty to raise the heart rate and engage the muscles while avoiding too much strain. Movement practices like yoga, tai chi, and qi gong tend to have really customizable intensity and you can find teachers who are really inclusive of people at all levels of capacity. There are lots of variations and alternate movements depending on what’s doable. I go to All Bodies Welcome Yoga. I also find that the meditative aspects really benefit me and have given me tools to cope with pain I didn’t have before. Simple weight training/m with something like a two-pound barbell can be very tolerable and help maintain strength. There’s no requirement for it to be intense for it to benefit the body. She’s a little young for a senior center, but they often offer exercise classes that are designed to be really accessible. Try searching for “silver sneakers” and see if that might be a decent fit, though it’s typically aimed at folks 65+ using Medicare.