[Jennii]

I have about a C-7 S.C.I, and have been so all my life. I have to say, considering my condition and the length of time I've been this way, I look pretty proportionate; I don't have the shriveled, stick-leg thing going on and so forth, but of course you can tell the areas that haven't been used as opposed to the areas I do have use of.

I'm young, pretty active and fit (been a swimmer for years), but I still feel I could do more for my lower body. Is there any way I can increase muscle mass/build tone from my upper stomach and down? I've read a previous forum post that's a bit related to this one that was about firming up the abdominal area (which actually helped out a lot, I'll have to try some of the suggestions), but that's not the only area in need of work.


There's of course the obvious appearance reasons: my stomach's 18" when I'm not sitting, and already my measurements from bust down are 34"-18"-32". If I could increase muscle mass in my lower body — yeah, I'd achieve either almost or an actual, true hourglass shape. WOO-YAY! Haha. That, and it would just be nice not to have that flubby-belly thing going on when I sit, as well as not have to be self-conscious about how icky my legs look when exposed (again, they're not shriveled-up little stick legs or anything, but you can see a bit of atrophy).

Besides all that though, there's more importantly health reasons to all this: I'm already mucked-up, but if I can keep as in shape, active and healthy as possible now, I'll have an easier time when I'm older. Plus, there's equally important functional reasons: I.E. if I can somehow increase my lower half's size a bit, I could… oh deary me, actually sit on a regular toilet seat for one, WITHOUT having to worry about falling through the hole! Haha. (I doubt many others have had that problem, I'm overall just a very petitely-built person, so… yeah.)


Anyway, yes… if anyone has had experience, or knows any information, it would be greatly appreciated! I've tried discussing this with doctors, fitness instructors, physical therapists, ETC., and they all have drawn blanks to the situation.

[DarkAgdistis]

By experience, I can tell you that you can use some of these electric/electronic devices supposed to stimulate muscles for athletes .... but ...

1. you have to do it every day and for more than 10 minutes if you do want to see a result

2. if you do it too strongly, you won't feel the pain but you will increase your level of spasms

3. if you want decent models ( with muscles warm up , etc, etc ) those are not cheap

4. while doing it ,you should also check your diet ...

I'm now paraplegic for 20 years and my weight hasn't changed at all ... but it needs efforts.

DA

[Jennii]

Thank you so much! I'll definitely have to check that out. What EMS product would you best recommend?


And yes, keeping on top of diet has been a thing of mine actually for years. Which kind of brings another question, because I do eat healthy yes, but how many calories should someone my build take?

I'm only 5'0", 75 LBS. (No, I'm not freakishly skinny, I just have a very small frame. Plus, you have to take in mind that muscle is heavier than fat, and because I don't have a lot of muscle built up in my lower half, I'm going to weigh less then average) and lately because of school I've been only moderately active — so I know the typical 1,000 calorie intake is a bit too high for me. How much of everything should I have? Oh well, I guess that should be saved for another post, eh? Heh'.

[Tinbasher]

Jennii, on Feb 4 2007, 10:55 PM, said:

I have about a C-7 S.C.I, and have been so all my life.

Jenni

You mention you have been SCI all your life. I would say if thats the case you may well be waisting your money on EMS if what you expect is an observable change in tone / bulk.

IT will give you an aroobic workout but you say your fit already.

T

[russ1]

FES rowing seems to be the way to go for a proper lower body workout.
http://www.fesrowing.org/
not tried it yet but hoping to in the not too distant future

[DarkAgdistis]

I have the Compex Mi Fitness but you could go for a lower/cheaper model ...

russ1, if you ask a girl to use that FES thing, she won't keep a nice shape but she will be built like a former east german weigth lifters woman ...

[Jennii]

DarkAgdistis, on Feb 9 2007, 05:41 AM, said:

she won't keep a nice shape but she will be built like a former east german weigth lifters woman ...

Not necessarily a bad thing, with my manly-manly built-up thighs I could obtain, it just may be the thing to solve the toilet thing I mentioned! Heh'.

russ1, on Feb 8 2007, 01:01 PM, said:

FES rowing seems to be the way to go for a proper lower body workout.
http://www.fesrowing.org/
not tried it yet but hoping to in the not too distant future

It actually looks like it'd be fun to try. I'm going to inquire to see if there's anything like that here in the states.