16 replies to this topic

[wheelie182]

I noticed a while back that I've been putting on quite a bit of weight, and so decided to do something about it. So I joined a gym, where my exercises were weight lifting and 20 minutes on the handcycle ( pretty much the only equipment I can use ), 3 times a week.

And now six months on, my belly is about the same or maybe bigger, yet Ive put on a lot of upper body weight due to the weight lifting.

I was fully aware that weight lifting wouldnt move much of it, but was hoping the handbike exercise would help, but nope.

Any ideas on exercises I could maybe use?

Im a complete T6 Paraplegic, so no movement below the nipples

I was thinking about getting one of these :



But as the movement would be indirectly coming from my arms, Im not sure if it would do anything, ( or even if I would indeed be able to do the exercise )

[Apparelyzed]

Hi,

The enlarged abdominal area in higher level paraplegics and tetraplegics is due to loss of muscle tone.

What has happened is your abdominal muscles have stretched, giving the resultant "Pot Belly".

Some people are lucky, and have enough muscle tone or spasticity to stop the formation of the belly, but many don't.

The only method I could think of for you to try, is an abdominal electrical stimulator, such as the Slendertone for men. There are others out there, so you might want to research into them.

It can be a never ending battle though, so don't get to dis-heartened if it doesn't work.

Regards

Simon.

[cas]

The Bain of my life too!!! Like you I'm conscious that most cardio activities will just bulk out my top half. I have a slendertone and hav been trying to put it on for an hour most days for the past week- il let you know in a few months!!!

[JimG]

Is it a potbelly, or just getting fat in general?


The best exercise to lose bodyfat is the pushaway method.

(pushaway from your plate sooner)

Having been a bodybuilder/fitness fanatic up until my SCI, I can tell you that you can ALWAYS eat more calories than you can burn off in the gym if you're not careful.

Now that you don't have 1/2-2/3rds of your body's muscles working to keep your metabolism up....you've got to be much more careful and cognizant of everything you put in your mouth.

[Apparelyzed]

Whilst there will be a percentage of fat in the abdominal area, the appearance of a "Pot Belly" will still be evident, regardless of how much weight you safely lose.

Remember, you still need a little fat on your bum if the muscles have atrophied, so a bit of padding isn't all bad.

Simon

[JimG]

Apparelyzed, on 27 October 2010 - 05:51 PM, said:

Remember, you still need a little fat on your bum if the muscles have atrophied, so a bit of padding isn't all bad.

Now THERE'S my problem.....

I don't have any body fat, which means there's no padding on my a##.

Sit on hard surfaces......and the bones grind.

[airart1]

its the bad tradeoff for it all, thats what got my sore mostly the doctors told me after my divorce i started working out alot and got down to my old weight but lost all my butt and then working through that last christmas, 500 hours in a month, i had done it for 10 years and didnt pay much attention, and it caused the breakdown that i didnt realize i had gotten...but the doc did say it was mostly because of the loss of tone in the tush from my weight loss........still my fault, i should kept a better eye, make sure u do that if u lose weight......

[wheelie182]

Thanks for the replies, I'll take this into consideration.

[The Black Sheep]

The para-pot! I hate mine.

I've actually tried something similar called the Ab Rocker. I was convinced that if I could get my ab and core muscles to start working, I might be able to control them. It didn't work. It's extremely frustrating because you try to compensate with your arms for what your belly can't do, and as hard as I tried, it didn't work.

One thing I have found that works really well for the belly muscles is a 10 lb round dumb-bell weight. Not the bar, but just the round weight. I lay on my back in bed and hold it over my head, swing forward and the inertia helps me sit up. You won't realize it until about 10 sit-ups later, but the belly muscles actually start to throb. I'm an incomplete T5 and have frequent spasms, and I think when I do this, the constant stretching back and fourth causes a spasm that's resisting so much movement. I did this for about 3 weeks every single night and had little baby abs afterwards! Another thing I noticed is that my side abs (I don't know what they're actually called) are much easier to control. I have a little more side-control than the front abs, and the sitting up and down motion uses a lot more balance from the sides than I thought.

One other thing I also tried about 6-7 years ago were exercise logs. They're just large logs placed about 16-20 inches apart, usually something you see at a playground or exercise park. I would sit in between them with my knees curled over one log and my back up against the other one. When I leaned and stretched my back over the log, the tummy stretches out also, and since it wasn't a full sit up, I was able to pull myself forward into a normal sitting position a lot easier. I don't like going to the park much, though, and kind of gave that up. The logs were scratchy on my back and made a fairly big bruise, so use a pillow or something that's not nearly as hard if you try something like a half-sit-up.

Not really "abs", but the top muscles got a lot stronger and the lower are at least flexing.

The marker wasn't necessary, but... Just seemed weird taking a picture of my tummy for no reason. =)

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by The Black Sheep, 30 October 2010 - 02:48 PM.

[cas]

Black sheep your abs look fab!!! I'm off to swim now in the vain hope it might help me get my washboard back,,...

[The Black Sheep]

haha, thank you! I dream about a washboard, then I wake up and realize how pliable my tummy is and laugh at how I can fold my belly into a smiley face.

[rjwheelz]

Wow I wondered about my belly so great to know this Simon thanks Will research about abdominal electrical stimulator now Cheers Richard

[goose]

rjwheelz, on 31 October 2011 - 02:15 AM, said:

Wow I wondered about my belly so great to know this Simon thanks Will research about abdominal electrical stimulator now Cheers Richard

I've never tried that binder but there is another thread on here about it. Be careful ...it tends to stimulate your bowels!!!IF you do try it, might want to pick and choose your times carefully. Good luck!!

[A trophy guy]

It's definitely all about your diet. No doubt. All the exercises in the world won't do a thing to give you a six pack, they will simply strengthen your abs. Especially after a SCI, you must pay attention to what you eat. Learn aabout nutrition and metabolism in the process. Small, frequesnt, high protein meals are ideal for losing weight while maintaining muscle mass.

[KayDub]

A trophy guy, on 31 October 2011 - 02:57 AM, said:

It's definitely all about your diet. No doubt. All the exercises in the world won't do a thing to give you a six pack, they will simply strengthen your abs. Especially after a SCI, you must pay attention to what you eat. Learn aabout nutrition and metabolism in the process. Small, frequesnt, high protein meals are ideal for losing weight while maintaining muscle mass.

That's true and not true. The mistake a lot of people make is thinking that sit ups will get rid of belly fat. In reality only cardio burns fat and of course that's far more effective with a proper diet. Any exercise that brings up your heart rate for an extended period of time, combined with cross training for ab muscles and nutrition, is the way to go.

Though SCI is slightly different. A lot of people get the para pot because their ab muscles either don't function at all or at the same level that they used to. So some sort of muscle focus is necessary if possible for people with SCI having belly issues That's why the electronic stimulator was mentioned to help retain their tone. If you have the function, it is important to do as much ab work as possible. Try to do ab circuits though if you can, instead of just straight up and down sit ups. It makes it less boring and it's more effective. (Like 10 reps of side to side sit ups, 10 legs on the ground all the way up at a 90 degree angle sit ups, 10 with a med ball, etc. etc. whatever you can do then do 5 sets). I still do ab circuits and I'm at T 10, though I'm very lucky to have retained a lot of the core strength that I had from training right up until when I got sick. Now I just want to keep it up as much as possible!

It's still really important to have a proper diet. I'm a really big believer in moderate, well rounded approaches to health and fitness. In weight training, running, diet, whatever. Try not to jump on any diet trends unless you're a very serious athlete and focus on eating as many lean proteins and veggies as you can (more green ones than starchy root ones) and then fill it in with fruits and dairy and the like. Don't beat yourself up over a treat, try to stick to natural foods but if you eat something processed, it's not the end of the world! When I was running nationally my diet was really specialised but now I just try to eat as healthy as possible and have a few small meals over the course of the day.

A lot of people focus on their bellies because they are concerned about their appearance. It's also really important to focus on your core strength in general for overall general health, especially with an SCI!

[A trophy guy]

KayDub, on 31 October 2011 - 03:20 AM, said:

A trophy guy, on 31 October 2011 - 02:57 AM, said:

It's definitely all about your diet. No doubt. All the exercises in the world won't do a thing to give you a six pack, they will simply strengthen your abs. Especially after a SCI, you must pay attention to what you eat. Learn aabout nutrition and metabolism in the process. Small, frequesnt, high protein meals are ideal for losing weight while maintaining muscle mass.

That's true and not true. The mistake a lot of people make is thinking that sit ups will get rid of belly fat. In reality only cardio burns fat and of course that's far more effective with a proper diet. Any exercise that brings up your heart rate for an extended period of time, combined with cross training for ab muscles and nutrition, is the way to go.

Though SCI is slightly different. A lot of people get the para pot because their ab muscles either don't function at all or at the same level that they used to. So some sort of muscle focus is necessary if possible for people with SCI having belly issues That's why the electronic stimulator was mentioned to help retain their tone. If you have the function, it is important to do as much ab work as possible. Try to do ab circuits though if you can, instead of just straight up and down sit ups. It makes it less boring and it's more effective. (Like 10 reps of side to side sit ups, 10 legs on the ground all the way up at a 90 degree angle sit ups, 10 with a med ball, etc. etc. whatever you can do then do 5 sets). I still do ab circuits and I'm at T 10, though I'm very lucky to have retained a lot of the core strength that I had from training right up until when I got sick. Now I just want to keep it up as much as possible!

It's still really important to have a proper diet. I'm a really big believer in moderate, well rounded approaches to health and fitness. In weight training, running, diet, whatever. Try not to jump on any diet trends unless you're a very serious athlete and focus on eating as many lean proteins and veggies as you can (more green ones than starchy root ones) and then fill it in with fruits and dairy and the like. Don't beat yourself up over a treat, try to stick to natural foods but if you eat something processed, it's not the end of the world! When I was running nationally my diet was really specialised but now I just try to eat as healthy as possible and have a few small meals over the course of the day.

A lot of people focus on their bellies because they are concerned about their appearance. It's also really important to focus on your core strength in general for overall general health, especially with an SCI!

Ahh yes, i stand corrected. Although i did say that the exercises WILL strengthen the abs, which is important to combat the para belly. The bottom line is, you must burn more calories than you take in to shed the fat, to expose the muscle, once that muscle has been built.

Edited by A trophy guy, 31 October 2011 - 03:25 AM.

[KayDub]

A trophy guy, on 31 October 2011 - 03:22 AM, said:

KayDub, on 31 October 2011 - 03:20 AM, said:

A trophy guy, on 31 October 2011 - 02:57 AM, said:

It's definitely all about your diet. No doubt. All the exercises in the world won't do a thing to give you a six pack, they will simply strengthen your abs. Especially after a SCI, you must pay attention to what you eat. Learn aabout nutrition and metabolism in the process. Small, frequesnt, high protein meals are ideal for losing weight while maintaining muscle mass.

That's true and not true. The mistake a lot of people make is thinking that sit ups will get rid of belly fat. In reality only cardio burns fat and of course that's far more effective with a proper diet. Any exercise that brings up your heart rate for an extended period of time, combined with cross training for ab muscles and nutrition, is the way to go.

Though SCI is slightly different. A lot of people get the para pot because their ab muscles either don't function at all or at the same level that they used to. So some sort of muscle focus is necessary if possible for people with SCI having belly issues That's why the electronic stimulator was mentioned to help retain their tone. If you have the function, it is important to do as much ab work as possible. Try to do ab circuits though if you can, instead of just straight up and down sit ups. It makes it less boring and it's more effective. (Like 10 reps of side to side sit ups, 10 legs on the ground all the way up at a 90 degree angle sit ups, 10 with a med ball, etc. etc. whatever you can do then do 5 sets). I still do ab circuits and I'm at T 10, though I'm very lucky to have retained a lot of the core strength that I had from training right up until when I got sick. Now I just want to keep it up as much as possible!

It's still really important to have a proper diet. I'm a really big believer in moderate, well rounded approaches to health and fitness. In weight training, running, diet, whatever. Try not to jump on any diet trends unless you're a very serious athlete and focus on eating as many lean proteins and veggies as you can (more green ones than starchy root ones) and then fill it in with fruits and dairy and the like. Don't beat yourself up over a treat, try to stick to natural foods but if you eat something processed, it's not the end of the world! When I was running nationally my diet was really specialised but now I just try to eat as healthy as possible and have a few small meals over the course of the day.

A lot of people focus on their bellies because they are concerned about their appearance. It's also really important to focus on your core strength in general for overall general health, especially with an SCI!

Ahh yes, i stand corrected. Although i did say that the exercises WILL strengthen the abs, which is important to combat the para belly. The bottom line is, you must burn more calories than you take in to shed the fat, to expose the muscle, once that muscle has been built.

Ha ha good thing my computer died or my response would not have made much sense compared to your edited reply. I was about to say... diet is REALLY important, but it's definitely not the only factor, particularly in para pot.