As above really!

I used to go to the gym a lot, it had good facilities (handbike, machines you could use from your chair etc.) but I'm now at uni and have just joined the gym here (London) but am not really sure how I'm going to get an effective workout out of it.

There is a lot of equipment and it's good enough for AB's but there is no equipment I can use from my chair...

My transfers are good but the trouble is the seats on the machins are so narrow I can't see myself staying on it...

There are free weights and a smith machine so I could use that for pull ups and do some bicep curls and tricep extensions but it's a pretty limited work out...

Using benches for weights and even bench press I have the same problem with the benches being too narrow...

The other thing is this gym doesn't have a handbike so no cardio options.

I'm T5 complete if that helps!

the main issue is working out my chest and perhaps shoulders.

Any tips and advice? Joining another gym isn't really an option here as being at uni and pretty busy I don't have time to drive across london and having checked yell.com there are no other gyms within a mile....

I'm living near waterloo station.

Thanks, Ryan.

Hi Ryan, I go to my local gym and use a dual pulley machine that they have. A bit like this one -

http://www.boxfituk.com/gym-equipment/adj-.../prod_1072.html

http://www.gymratz.co.uk/commercial-gym-eq...ent/item398.htm

It's pretty easy to use from your chair as you can adjust the height of the pulleys to do various exercises. You can also fit various handles, ropes and a bar to it.

No idea if there's one near you though - maybe you gym can get one in...

Hi Ryan

I work out 5-6 times a week in the gym, once a week with a personal trainer. I use a smiths machine alot with my trainer we use different handles to do lat pull downs, chest press, flys and pull backs, the only problem is he has tol hold on to me to either stop me tipping or just picking myself up because the weights i do are heavier than me. I am sure a member of staff in the gym would be able to do this with you. You could also do the same on cable cross over machines because you stay in your chair for all of those - well I do.

Hope this helps

Jules
x

I put an 8kg dumbell on my foot plate (between my feet) to stop my chair from tipping.

do good old push ups for chest exercise. I do them with my legs in the bed and my hands on the floor, that way it keeps my body from staying on the floor and I lift more weight up.

I agree about weight machines in gyms though all the little seats and benches are to small, I can transfer onto them but then balancing while lifting is a chore in itself. Right now I just use weights for curls I work the rest of my muscles with lifting myself in various ways.

Hi use the cable cross over in the gym and train from ya chair you can alter the position of the cable to train ya shoulders,arms, back and of course ya chest, there is no seat on the cable cross over so just roll up to 1 side of it and train ya shoulders and arms and back and when ya wanna train ya chest roll to the middle and ask some 1 to pull the other cable across to you then do chest alter the position you pull the cables to do flys and you can train ya chest to a certain extent, bench pressing for ya chest is the hardest i find as i cant transfer onto the benches but you can train each side of ya chest seperatly using the cable cross over again, you have to just make sure ya chair stays where it is.


Silone74

Thanks for the replies people!

Very impressed! Got more replies here than on a bodybuilding forum I frequent lol!

I didn't think of the dumbell on the footplate idea! Like the sound of that, although my chair taprs inwards at the front so wont be much room with my feet!

The getting staff to help thing is an option but I'm kinda embarassed to ask as stupid as that sounds. like a lot of people i'm overly stubborn about my independence lol!

Texaswheelz - how do you get into position to do press ups? I'm quite tight and while I can manouvre onto my front in bed I can imagine trying to do it sideways across my bed ending in pain lol!

Jules - I used to have trouble with lat pull down especially at my previous gym as I'd just end up lifting myself out my chair, I found i'd spend mot of my energy trying to lift in such away I didn't lift myself out lol!

Boozyuzi - there is a machine similar to those you've linked to so I could probably do a lot of my work out on that, the only thing is the positioning of it (it's a small gym) means I'd be right in the way of people using the treadmills but nevermind!

Thanks again for the replies people! Good to see so many people keeping in shape!

One final question, when any of you do pull ups do you find your legs stay on the floor, as obviously you can't hold your legs off of the ground? Does anyone else find that their abdomen tightens up as well, and it feels like your muscles that you cannot control are spasming to pull you downward? I think this is probably due to muscle tightness in my case, I'm bad and don't stretch...

Cheers, Ryan

I used to be a body builder before my accident and it is hard to find a gym where the seats move out of the way to gain access to the machines but if you use the cable machines you can do quite alot of stuff on them and of course free weights.
Dont know if you have tried strapping ya self into ya chair and doin pull ups lifting you in the chair? you need a low bar to pull up on though and need to be strong enough to lift it all and be careful LOL.it helps if you have a light chair 2.

Silone74

Ahh cool!

Did you keep it up after your accident?

I think one prblem for me is at my old gym eveything was pretty perfect, handbikes where the chairs moved out the way, lat pull down where there was no seat etc.

I might go tonight and try a few things out on the cable machines, I'm hoping one sid of the cable machine will be enough weight for lat pull down.

I've never tried strapping myself into my chair and doing pull ups, but if I could find a way to do that I'd give it a try! I think I'd be more than strong enough as my chair's pretty light and I'm not that heavy (about 11stone 12 the last time I was weighed).

I took the whole bodybuilding thing pretty seriously a year or so ago but then fell out with my mate who I trained with and it went down the pan, we both stopped going. Then I found I had a syrinx but since getting that sorted in the summer I've been wanting to start up again!

I got some pretty good gains last time, but whilst I didn't realise it at the time I actually became a bit of a porker looking back at pictures lol! Think I'll do something a bit differently this time! I wouldn't mind a bit more size but also wouldn't mind shedding a bit of the bodyfat % too...not sure if I'll ever have abs again being T5 bt that would be nice lol! As at the moment the "tone" of my stomach is pretty non-existent!

Thanks, Ryan

Hi Ryan

I was a gymnast before my accident and the exercise bug just won't go away. There are some machines that are accessible where the seat swing away. I only found out about these when I did the modelling for them!!

Working with a personal trainer works well for me now, especially on things like the lat pull downs, but occassionally we get our timing slightly off which usually ends up with both of us in hysterical laughter, and the rest of the gym wondering what we are doing!
x

Hi it is hard to shed the pounds from the mid section with the muscles not working i find the hand bike to be the best for trying to fight the fat i attatch mine to a turbo trainer that i modded to fit the wheel onto and that gives a great cv work out i dont think a six pack will appear though lol.
Training for size is a little tricky to not put some fat on if wanting to gain more muscle as the calorie intake has to sustain ya training.
I am at this moment not training due to a pulled chest muscle and i am straining at the bit to get back to lifting i have found the only problem being i have to hold back a little as i have found out if i get an injury it effects me in every day life but still i will not stop training i did it for years before my sci and cant stop it now LOL.



Silone74

Ahh wow, that's cool!

I'v always loved sport as well, played football to a relatively high level and used to compete in athletics! I injured my knee pretty seriously in a football match a year or so before my accident so couldn't really do either anyway, but sport was probably among the first things I thought about on bedrest lol! Initially I found it frustrating with the nearest basketball teams etc. being too far away and then my tennis coach quitting, but until I was diagnosed with a syrinx I used tohit the gym alot. That's one reason I came to uni in London, for the sport, I need endorphines!!





Ahh cool! I wish there was a handbike in the gym! I did ask about getting one before I moved here but nothing came of it I've wanted to get back into athletics for ages now though and I've found a club so am thinking of starting that asap! Heard they chain weights to your chair etc. and make you do sprints lol! Sounds fun!

When I lie back I find my stomach spasms like crazy and goes pretty solid and if you poke it you can feel the musles underneath a layer of flab so hoping I can achieve some kinda definition haha! The worst was when I had my back brace taken off for the first time to discover a pot belly!! I was seriously devastated Managed to lose that it's just shredding the excess poundage!

I know what you mean about the everyday life thing, I remember after doing bench press with a mate holding me still on the bench, my triceps were so dead I couldn't lift myself back in my chair for a good 5 minutes, and other times I'd barely be able to get in and out of the car lol! But I saw that as something positive! Meant I'd trained hard

With the whole calorie thing, do we need as many calories as an AB would to get bigger? Bearing in mind we don't train our legs etc.?

Cheers, Ryan.

Calorie from quality protien is important for building muscle although with not training the lower part of the body not as many are needed as an ab athelete but you still need to higher your intake than normal to build muscle on the other body parts that you train, if you want to maintain the muscle that you have and not gain size you wont need so many calories as you would to build more muscle, if you get the diet right and train properly with plenty of rest inbetween sessions you will gain muscle. To gain muscle it is hard not to add some extra pounds in body fat just as a bodybuilder has an off season training schedule being that they put on body fat and muscle to then strip the fat to compete leaving the muscle on show with very little body fat %.


Silone74

Yeah cool

I've decided I'm gong to get back into the gym relativey slowly and see how it goes, then experiment with the diet increasing the food intake slowishly!

I read a lot about diet before on muscletalk.co.uk, there's some really good information on there! Do you bother with protein shakes at all or do you just stick to good quality food?

Cheers, Ryan.

Its funny you mention shakes i used to have them brought in when i was in rehab and got told off LOL the nutritionalist told me it had 2 much protien in it i said thats the whole point but i was still in AB bodybuilder mode any way they banned me from having them in hospital lol they gave me some of there own shakes that they said where better for me but as ya do when i got home i went back to the shakes but i have found that good food is the key not the shakes and only really have a shake if i have missed protien intake from food , good food can not be beaten in my book the shakes are great for getting more protien but remembering that you are only training half ya body good food will be enough and the shakes can upset ya stomach an ya dont want that if ya get caught short lol not when ya straining in the gym



Silone74

you should be able to use he machines at any gym if someone has tro lower the equipment for you then it shouldn't be aproblem. i do chest pull downs, lat pull downs, a side pull ins with help to get the cables to me at the beginning, back rows, wheelchair push ups, dumbell curls, regular push ups, chest presses and chin ups. i do that ina day 3 span and switch back and forth

Yeah I used to drink myprotein's chocolate whey, but I found I'd rely on it as opposed to doing proper cooking. Lol at the nutritionist! They did used to give me stomach ache quite often!

Been to the gym twice now! Forgot how hard it was! I can't lift anywhere near what I used to lol!

The arm and back exercises aren't too bad...but I'm still concerned about chest...even doing one arm at a time, with any substantial weight my chair was tipping backwards meaning I had to lean forwards and technique was compromised...

Today was blody hard workout though! I ate half a tray full of tuna pasta bake and could easily eat more...

Not really nailing the diet at the mo...just getting back into the gym initially, I ate nowhere near enough pre-workout anddon't think I've eaten enough protein post workout but I'm going to go food shopping tomorrow!

It's a bit naf tere is' a handbike as startig the workout without a real warm up makes it a hell of alot tougher and isn't going to be overly good for the body either.

Thanks, Ryan.

Ye doing one side at a time is tricky i try and wedge my chair against the machine so as not to tip it
Starting off when not warmed up is going to make it more prone to injury try doing a few light reps strict on form to warm up a little brfore doing the proper work out this will warm up the muscle you will be training.
Getting back into it takes abit of time i lost 4 stone from having my accident and being on bed rest for 4 months due to other injuries apart from the sci and as soon as i was up in my chair i hit the gym lol i have gained back most of the weight some being relaxed muscle as i like to call it LOL but it got me out of the hospital quicker than it would of done just doing the physio work outs that they wanted me to do i used to sneak in my own work outs with out them knowing lol .
Check this site out i have emailed to find out about any comps in this country as i would like to get to compete.
http://www.wheelchair-bodybuilding.com/home



Silone74

That's cool! Went home for the weekend so haven't ht the gym since I last posted but plan on going at some point today!

Checking out that site now...some of the guys on there are seriously big!!

Did you compete beforeyour accident then?

Ryan

I never competed as an ab but would of liked to i never had the nerve although i had been asked to by gym owner i used to train at, the one thing i have noticed about being in a chair i seem to have more confidence with people and would like to compete now its strange as an ab i had trained for years had a good physique and probably would have done well in competition and now in my chair have only got chest shoulders and arms to show off lol i want to compete.
There are some awsome wheelchair bodybuilders that compete and some compete and dont have a physique you would say was a bodybuilder but i like the fact that you can compete and not have to worry about the waist line as all different levels of sci compete it makes it interesting to see where the injury level starts and what kind of body you can acheive.



Silone74

Yeah I definitely agree with the seeing what kind of body you can achieve! Especially as different levels of injury affects what physique you can achieve and what exercises you can do to achieve your goals, it's inspiring to see people achieving when at times I've thought it probably can't happen! I'm determined to eventually have a "toned" stomach but tbh I don't think my diet would ever allow for it lol!

Hello Ryan -

I'm T6 incomplete, T11 complete with some high abs, no obliques, no balance, decent arms and shoulders.

I've had a hard time getting any muscle development below the belly button. One thing I've found that helps is the raised mat. The one at the rehab facility where I go is w/c height, padded, about 6X8 ft. I transfer, lie on my back and do "pretend" crunches with 15 pound weights in each hand, arms straight at my sides, keeping the weights from touching the mat. I'm able to get my scapulas clear of the mat, but that's it. Purdy good for a T6 though.

I also use the 15s for straight arm lifts while lying on my back. I raise and lower the weights very slowly, focusing on uniformity of body attitude and breathing.

Try it. See if it helps.

Lynn

Some interesting stuff here and Hai Ryan! Just to add a few things to this I guess, I train only twice a week at the mo at my local gym. Believe me before my accident I never used to train lol I only just started playing a little football with a few friends once a week that was about it!

Anyway I train with two totally different personal trainers (sometimes other ones), mainly these two chaps anyway and one is the cardio calender boy and the other the muscle calender boy lol The gym we train in is part of a sports center anyway, an athletics track outside aswell Most of the equipment is useable in some way, all resistance machines mainly and a full range of free weights. I am quite privaleged because my trainers are always on hand to hold my chair in place for all the different excercises I do etc. So most of the time I don't have to worry about tipping over but there have been a few close calls lol

I am also training to become a gym instructor at the moment, it's helped alot for me personally not knowing sod all about this kind of thing and has given me a new appreciation of my training. Of course diet is important, myself I just eat sensibly not too large portions, drink plenty and I don't snack between meals (can't be arsed to go down in my lift to the fridge lol) There are still lots you can do to exercise, body weight exercises such as push ups are good but if you do have access to the free weights there's lots you can do.

I usually do my biceps and shoulders with them, triceps I use a cable on a dap machine (not sure if thats what it's called only guessing) but free weights are just as good. You can use the free weights to do chest aswell, just simply hold them chest height (one in each hand) and push out as if you were doing it with a bar.

Hope this helps anyway chap and good luck with your training, don't be afraid to ask for a hand from the staff I'm sure they won't mind ;)

James

I work out about 3-4 times a week, use a mopwer-assisted bike 3 times a week and other leg exercises during the week. I moved from a small town to a bigger city and found it had an adapted gym for me to use and I gained 30lbs of muscle. I'm moving this summer to France for a year and I really hope I can find another gym like the one I use in Montreal.

Is there anyone from the South of France?

hi i've just started at my gym 3weeks ago and already feeling the benefits, i use cable pull type equipement (sorry dont know make or proper names) one has just one cable and the other has two, i can do these from my wheelchair, my trainer has adapted exercises to suit me, and they've just moved the handcycle downstairs (as no lift) and repositioned the equipement i'm using so i can get to it easily, they have been so helpful, i also do free weights from my chair. when working on the cable machines we have found we need to put metal bar infront or behind (varies on what excercise i'm doing at the time) my wheels to stop my chair moving when i pull the weights, also as previously mentioned we need to put a heavy dumbell on the footplate to stop tipping (when we do this i just push my feet behind the foot plate to make room for the dumbell) the gym has been great i'm getting membership for just £12 a mth and they have given me a personal trainer 3 times a week for an hour each time, so i'm very impressed, mind you i'm sure she must have been a physioterrarist(physiotherapist!) in the past cause she sure makes me work!! in the 3 weeks i've been going i already feel like my abs are tightening and pulling my stomach in and my posture is definately improving.

I used to be a bit of a gymrat,on and off,before my injury,,so I got quite big.Trouble was,I always had bigger legs,natuarally,than my top,so I neglected my legs.Although I was in proportion,my top half had more "pumped up" muscle,so when after having a break from the weights for a few months and going back to the weights,my top half would have more "muscle memory" than my bottom half.

The thing is that now,my legs have very much atrophied,and when I work out my top half,the "muscle memory" means that I bulk up very fast,and I am VERY top heavy.I know that I will never have massive legs,cos I cant lift heavy weights with them,but does anyone know ANY exercises for the legs.All I want,if possible,is to tone my legs,and maybe get them the size that they were before,IF possible.(I do have strength,although minimal-I cannot stand without pulling myself up with my hands,my legs don't seem like they are doing anything,the action coming from my arms and the spasms in my legs(involuntary extending)doing the "lifting/pushing up".)

OR,what I really want is,does anyone know of a thread(here)or a site where I can find information on an exercise bike,either aided or unaided.(By electro-stimulation)

Does anyone else have the problem with being top-heavy.My arms are nearly as big(if not bigger!)than my legs!Does anyone know how to work out their top half,without going too big(building up definition)and not going too top heavy?

Thankyou.Rich.

If you can sit up straight,try sitting on the end of the bed,so you can put your feet over the end and in contact with the floor.First,sit on the far right side of the bed,so that when you hold a dumbell in your right hand you can hold the dumbell with the amr relaxed,as far down as you can go,and your hand and dumbell are clear of the bed without the bed getting in the way.(You should be able to do dumbell curls,one arm at a time,this way.)And the do the left.You can also do this in the chair.If you have a chair that you can remove the arms(so there is clearance)and move/remove the footplates,do that.Also,try bending over forwards,with the empty hand on your knee for support,and then you can do concentrated curls.

When lifting weight.wear a lumbar belt.You may find this helpful if you have no strength or support in your back.This is particularly helpful when doing pressups.I was thinking about putting one around my knees-so the belt acts like a splint,and keeps the legs straight-to keep my knees of the floor.(When I do pressups,my knees stay on the floor.)

I use the cable machine in tthe gym.The one I have used pulls/pushes forwards,so I can have the wall behind my back,which acts as a brake.
any other machines can be adjusted,and exercise can also be adapted or modified for us.Just use your imagination.

Hello Rich -

Sounds like you've spent plenty of time in the gym, so this may be a "no duh".

1.) If you want to maintain/increase definition, but reduce bulk, then lower your weights, increase your reps. If you've been doing tricep pull-downs on a plate rack at, say 150 X 8 X 3 - drop it to 90 X 12 X 3. Keep the moves slow - very slow by comparison to standard lifting technique. Focus only on form and breathing. Ignore the pounds. Same, with all exercises: low resistance, high reps, moderate number of sets. When the weight becomes too easy to lift, increase reps AND go slower. Don't allow your body or your mind the pleasure of lifting more weight. Stay low and slow. And during your workout, don't make any moves unrelated to the muscle group you're working.

2.) Look into tai chi. It's great for control, form, breathing and muscle definition, not bulking.

3.) Basic Strength Training For Wheelchair Users - a 2007 DVD, featuring Patrick Jacobs, Ph.D., CSCS*D with Miami Research Project to Cure Paralysis. Good stuff. Should be able to pick up a copy from local hospital, rehab ctr, health library, or Amazon.

4.) I'd be careful doing any overhead work (presses, etc) considering your level of injury. I'm T6 incomplete - T11 complete and have found that without a full complement of abs, obliques and lats, there is danger of damaging the spine. Vertebrae compression will occur, belt or no belt. Be safe.

Good luck and enjoy!

Murray

I go to a local club that has a spinal cord room it's pretty awesome! I work out 2hrs, 2days a week.

http://www.youtube.com/4estGimp