Wounded Warrior Project Trains with John Hopkins University

BALTIMORE, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Along with Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) recently hosted a workout and physical health and wellness seminar for a group of wounded veterans at the university's state-of-the-art facilities. After a review of proper techniques and a warm-up stretch, the JHU trainers and warriors got down to business.

"There's a significant advantage to attending military-only events," said Army veteran Ronald Gaete. "There's already a baseline established in terms of who you are and what you've done, so the regular small talk is blown over and you get right to meeting people. You know each other's experiences already, and that connection is immediate, and the nervousness is gone. For me, those relationships are so important."

Like other WWP fitness gatherings, the workout was in an environment that accommodates physical injuries and social anxieties. Warriors participated in a circuit of self-regulated exercises, focusing on different areas of the body at varying levels of intensity. Depending upon the needs and comfort levels of each warrior, WWP staff offered instructions on modifications that improved the workout.

"The most challenging part of any workout is the right motivation, and once I got connected with like-minded individuals, things got a lot more fun," Ronald said. "The strain and stress melted away. I'm grateful that Wounded Warrior Project got us together to do this because I definitely needed that push and chance to get moving again."

WWP's physical health and wellness programs are personalized to encourage warriors, caregivers, and family members to reach physical health goals while also aiding mental and emotional recovery from the invisible wounds of war. Nutrition is a big component of this process. As such, warriors learned about better eating habits, something Marine Corps veteran Beth Schmidt was quite fond of.

"The team did a cooking demonstration that was such a pleasant experience," Beth explained. "I love to cook, and the things I learned helped me expand on my abilities in the kitchen. I've easily made the incredible Peruvian chicken recipe a dozen times since this gathering."

Physical activity and socializing with other veterans can help injured warriors cope with stress and emotional concerns. In a WWP survey of the injured warriors it serves, more than half of survey respondents (51.7 percent) talked with fellow Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, or Operation New Dawn veterans to address their mental health issues, and 29.6 percent expressed physical activity helps.

WWP offers a variety of programs and services that assist veterans with mental health, physical health and wellness, career and benefits counseling, and connecting with other warriors and their communities. Generous donors make it possible for wounded warriors to benefit from program resources at no cost to them.

To learn more about how WWP's programs and services are making an impact on the lives of wounded warriors, visit https://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/.

About Wounded Warrior Project
We Connect, Serve, and Empower
The mission of Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP connects wounded warriors and their families to valuable resources and one another, serves them through a variety of free programs and services, and empowers them to live life on their own terms. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project