8 replies to this topic

[biggdoggpa]

I may be getting a little ahead of things here but i am looking ahead trying to stay positive and focused!!! My best friend is a paraplegic for 2 months now and i want to help him keep moving forward. he was very athletic before his injury so he is still in decent shape, I want to start training him small stuff with dumbbells and i plan on meeting with his therapist but i see a lot of info on here that we don't hear from his doctors etc etc.. so if any one has any tips or techniques I'd appreciate the help, I am not a registered trainer yet but i am working on it, i know my way around the gym but never really trained any one with a disability and i don't want to hurt him. Let me reiterate i will be running everything by his therapist as i said i definitely don't want to cause him any further injuries or complications!!

Thank You

[silone74]

Hi biggdoggpa,

I was a bodybuilder before my accident and have trained since having my injury and although it is good to train it depends on what your training like? is it for size and strength? endurance and fitness? or abit of both?

I trained like i used to before my injury and looking back it maybe was not the best thing to do I still train but at a less aggressive style to help keep down the risk of injury that comes along with training as a bodybuilder,the therapist will as they did in my case try and steer you towards light weights and higher reps and more fitness than building muscle but at the time I new best and gained my size back in my arms shoulders chest and upper back it got me out of rehab quicker too but as I said I was stuborn and thought I new best and after returning home after being discharged from rehab although I had built up plenty of muscle and was strong it did not help me with every day pushing I had problems with lactic acid build up and could only push short distances before my arms where so pumped up i could no longer grip the push rim, and so I tailored my training to be more endurance based and although I still lift the iron I don't focus all my efforts on it,as its still early on in your friends recovery and rehab all I would say is you can train as an able bodied person can but just take it steady and as long as your there to help him with balance and getting the dumbell too and from the rack with out him having to struggle as I have done in the past that causes more of a thret to shoulder injury than training itself and not to over train and not be able to transfer after training was a big thing that I had done in the past it will also lift spirits and I found it a great way to take some frustrations out on the training too.
I have also used a standing frame and punch bag for training it not only gets you stood up but also gives some great fitness work outs hitting the bag and again frustration can be taken out on the bag its all about getting the mind set right again as much as it is about training if you both put your heads together you will come up with new techniques that will work perfectly and find out the ones that just don't have a place any more from training in a chair, If you show that you are there to help your friend this will go along way into geting him into training.

Hope this may help a little and if I can help I will try and do so.


Si

[mcjane]

It is such a shame that so called health care professionals are quick to prescribe drugs but not rehab exercise equipment. I was told the single most important thing you can do for your future health is a STANDING FRAME. They even come with a glider feature. I have a MOTOmed electric exercycle. It has an optional attachment for your arms. www.motomed.com

[Ironside]

biggdoggpa, on 16 May 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

I may be getting a little ahead of things here but i am looking ahead trying to stay positive and focused!!! My best friend is a paraplegic for 2 months now and i want to help him keep moving forward. he was very athletic before his injury so he is still in decent shape, I want to start training him small stuff with dumbbells and i plan on meeting with his therapist but i see a lot of info on here that we don't hear from his doctors etc etc.. so if any one has any tips or techniques I'd appreciate the help, I am not a registered trainer yet but i am working on it, i know my way around the gym but never really trained any one with a disability and i don't want to hurt him. Let me reiterate i will be running everything by his therapist as i said i definitely don't want to cause him any further injuries or complications!!

Thank You

I am a C5/6 tetraplegic and I use my uppertone everyday. I don't go mad, I do approximately 45 min a day. Obviously if your friend can use his hands then he won't need a specialised piece of equipment like I use. You don't have to go mad getting him to lift stupid amounts of weights. If you get a selection of weights and you start off with fairly lightweight, maybe five pounds, do a 30 min session everyday working various muscles, then the next day works different muscles and then just alternate every day. You'll know when it's time to increase the weight a little, I wouldn't go and have too much in one go, you are better off working with the lighter weights and just doing it slowly. Within a couple of months doing it a few times a week you will almost certainly build up quite a bit of muscle.

[biggdoggpa]

Thank you all for your replies!! we will start light and do higher reps but not too much lol i am also worried about forearm splints has anyone every have any issues with them? being that he is in a wheel chair and constantly uses his arms/hands?

[silone74]

As far as that goes you will find by pushing and doing any uper arm movment as in curls, tricep extentions and all shoulder movements the forearms will also be trained so there would in my opinion be no need to train forearms at all I used to do wrist curls and reverse wrist curls as I did before my accident but quickly realised they where not needed I got the same effects from pushing around and trainig bicep,tricep and shoulders with the forearm being used as a secondary muscle being worked from those movements.
The most important muscle to keep from injury is shoulders they are prone to injury from training any way so to warm up properly and stretch properly before and after training is a must.
Split routines instead of full body workouts will also help in the repair of the muscle inbetween sessions and will avoid over trainig so that the muscle has plenty of recovery time as said before I trained as I used to before my accident obviously those body parts that still worked and I still train but not at the same level and added more fitness into the routine.
Just keep it sensable take your time to learn what your friend can do and most of all keep positive if your friend is finding things difficult for what ever reason support is key and keeping him motavated will inspire both of you to keep at it.

Si

[kamca]

I am a physical therapist who specializes in newly injured individuals, and I also do personal training for individuals with disabilities. I think it's very important to focus more on the back muscle; i.e rows, shoulder adduction, shoulder external rotation, serratus anterior. When people are using their arms to push a wheelchair all day, and using their arms to transfer, their pecs get strong and tight. This pulls the scapula around anteriorly and causes a lengthening of these back muscles. This imbalance contributes to shoulder pain that many wheelchair users experience. It's also very important to stretch the pecs and biceps daily to help the scapula sit on the back where it belongs.
As Si said, allow for recovery time between workouts.
Hope that helps!
Kristin

[biggdoggpa]

kamca, on 22 May 2011 - 04:51 PM, said:

I am a physical therapist who specializes in newly injured individuals, and I also do personal training for individuals with disabilities. I think it's very important to focus more on the back muscle; i.e rows, shoulder adduction, shoulder external rotation, serratus anterior. When people are using their arms to push a wheelchair all day, and using their arms to transfer, their pecs get strong and tight. This pulls the scapula around anteriorly and causes a lengthening of these back muscles. This imbalance contributes to shoulder pain that many wheelchair users experience. It's also very important to stretch the pecs and biceps daily to help the scapula sit on the back where it belongs.
As Si said, allow for recovery time between workouts.
Hope that helps!
Kristin

i would imagine then isolated seated row for back and lat pull downs would be ok to do with light weight, right? right now i have him using light dumbells and jump stretch bands the blue band for some resistance training like chest press. we tried to wrap the band under the front of his wheel chair ummmm not a good idea lmao he almost did a back flip so i am working on a platform similar to jumpstretch platform that he can wheel his chair right onto.

[silone74]

Hi how good is your friend at transfering from his chair to a bench? I know a normal bench would be too thin for me so I improvised a wider bench and padded and covered it to make a benching station and bench press as normal just with the wider bench for support I also use this for pull overs and tricep extentions too, just make sure ya there to spot and help him sit up after the sets.As for back work outs there should be no problems with lat pull down or rows I used to just lift what I could piramid up to failure just like before accident.Free weights are great as long as ya there to help when picking up and putting down the dumbell I also use the resistance bands alot now doing shoulders with them is easier than using weights and safer.


Si