Have a Plan and Stop Training ADD

In almost any avenue in life try to keep things simple.  For lifters that can simply be to have a plan, stick to this plan and track your progress.  It is not rocket science.

Over-analysis or ADD

Too many lifters spend countless hours pouring through article after article on the internet addressing a new training modality THEY MUST TRY.  They see something new on T-Nation.com  and switch up everything they do based on the newest article they read.   Whether this is a complete program or a new lift they must try out it results in a completely different set of exercises every single time they go to the gym.  This is variety overload and not effective for long term training progressions which result in continued gains.  There is a saying amongst the smartest minds in training that the BEST program is probably the program you are NOT doing.  There is absolute truth to the axiom that you do need variety in your workouts over time, but NOT chaos.

 Achieving or seeking muscle confusion is one thing, but this constant changing every workout is training ADD; jumping around from program to program like a gypsy.  It's similar to the people who go out to a bar or nightclub only to spend the entire time trying to decide what bar to goto next, as if that next bar will be the magical experience they seek.  Spoiler Alert, that next bar is no better than where you are now, because once there you will ruin any experience by thinking of the next bar, then the next bar and so on.  If you never stay any one place long enough how do you know if it is was any good or actually did suck?

4 Weeks

One can apply the same logic to workout programs with folks that are CONSTANTLY on the look out for the next best thing.  Whether you are doing volume work German Volume Training of 10x10s, full body strength based workouts of 5x5s across the board, or 10x3 for all the big lifts for max power or dynamic effort.  It doesn't really matter as long as you hit each bodypart at least once a week (ideally 2 or 3times).  If you spend more time actually DOING a workout versus looking for the next best workout they all present value.  It is perfectly fine to switch things up but try sticking to something for 4 weeks before moving on.  If you absolutely must have variety add in 5-10 minutes at the end of each workout for single joint vanity lifts that are just "for the pump".

Four weeks provides you with the opportunity to actually progress through a program via adding more weights and more reps through the Double Progression Method.  If you are changing up EVERYTHING every single week or worse, every single workout, you have no way to gauge your progress.  You may get some results for a while simply due to the muscle confusion but without consistent progressions any gains you achieve will be lost next time around and over time you will get stuck in a rut.

Any solid program is based on a weekly set of workouts comprised mainly around your big lifts that progress over a time span.  For wheelchair lifter these lifts are Bench Presses, Military Presses, Rows and Pull-ups.  A couple big pushes and a couple big pulls.  Each workout add in some quality ancillary work for the smaller muscle groups (triceps, biceps, etc), and as mentioned above the finishers for each workout is where you can add the day to day variety if you must retain some of the ADD.  If you read something new and wonderful that you want to try out, great, but don't go overboard with a constant change in direction.  Work in a new movement into your existing plan.  If the new thing is an entire training program, finish out your current program before jumping into the next thing.  Give something a long enough chance before deeming it sucks.

Conclusion

Some basic rules for any trainee: 

1. Have a plan for the week, month, whatever.  Plan out what days you will workout, and which bodyparts you will hit.
2. Stick to this plan for a minimum of 4 weeks.  
3. Track Progress on each main lift via reps and/or weight every workout.

People jump from program to program way too often just as too many people jump on and off every single diet fad.  Try something new, give it a few weeks and if you are happy with the results add it to your long term arsenal for the future.  Have a plan, stick to this plan and track your progress.

Why We Must Exercise? Blame Netflix!

This applies to every person on the planet, not just those of us in wheelchairs.  Unless you have a profession that involves true physical labor where you swing an axe or pile up bricks I am gonna go out on a limb and suggest you need a MINIMUM of 4-5 sessions per week involving intense bouts of exercise.  This is not really our fault but everything is automated for us, we do almost nothing on a day to day basis to continue basic survival.  Add in great tech luxuries such as Netflix and we are a bunch of lazy asses.

Why We Need Exercise

We need exercise because of a completely sedentary lifestyle of sitting at a desk staring at a computer for 40+ hours a week.  Add to that an additional 10 hours of sitting in our cars going to and from work.  This time is lost, there is not much we can do about it as we have to work to survive.  What we can adjust is what we do with the time we have remaining.  In a 5 day workweek, Monday - Friday, we have 120 hours to work with.  We lose 50 hours of this time for sleep, and sleep prep, as you must get 8 hours MINIMUM.  You are now left with 70 hours  to work with and we spent 50 of that on work.

What do you do with these 20 hours?  Once we are home too many of us spend another 4 hours per weeknight sitting down at our home computer, playing video games or watching TV.   Other than getting up at work to get coffee, go to the bathroom and other minor survival chores we have just spent up the entire workweek and not done shit.  If what I just laid out looks like your typical week, than you need cardio, weight training and more of both instantly!

Netflix Problem

Before Netflix and DVR we actually had to wait for a show we really like and when it was done, it was done.  Then we either went and actually did something that probably involved being outside.  Now we can just watch endless hours of GREAT content to our hearts content.  This a great luxury but makes it incredibly easy to be lazy!

Wheelchair Problem

All of the above is also true for us wheelchair bound folks, but the need to exercise is magnified due to sitting all day.  At least the "walking" are required to get up and walk to the coffee room, get up and move around just by the requirement of having to get from here to there.  That walking is at least some movement and enables the body to stretch out in a more natural state.  When applied to a wheelchair person this is not the case, as I never get an opportunity during the work day to stretch out in any fashion.  And as for basic wheeling around the evolution of the wheelchair has turned it into an extremely lightweight high-performance machine.  Any wheeling on a flat concrete surface requires very little effort.

Start Small

I will write up tons of articles on different exercises wheelchair users can do from a strength or energy system perspective but for those looking for a start there are tons of options.  Simply wheeling around is not gonna be enough for us due to the problem I presented above with the advancement in efficiency of wheelchairs.  Unless you are like me and need to get your front wheels fixed as there is a lot of friction!

For wheeling purposes, find a hill near your work or home.  Or drive to one.  Wheeling up a hill is the absolute best form of "cardio" for a wheelchair user.  It fits into our version of a loaded carry as it will work both cardio-vascular and muscular areas.  If the hill is too challenging to finish in one straight push, pause long the hill.  Hill pushes provide a great burn to the upper body and will force you to raise your heart rate.  Two birds, one stone.

So start small, find a hill and turn off Netflix for a hour!

Gym Douchebags Part II

Each Thursday/Friday I will post some gym rants that are less instructional/informational, nor specific to training approaches and exercise instruction/selection geared towards the wheelchair lifter.  Today I will jump into Part 2 of Gym Douchebags from the perspective of the wheelchair lifter or just a normal human.

There are some people at the gym that are either completely oblivious to Gym Etiquette or just oblivious to basic human decency and consideration towards others.  These people are either self-centered, selfish, inconsiderate to others or some combination of all of these.  In the world of a Gym I classify these people as Gym Douchebags.  These people either dress, do, say or emanate something that is annoying, distracting or inconsiderate to the normal humans at that gym.

In Part 1 I focused on the douchebags that leave their weights and equipment EVERYWHERE!!  (As Elaine would say DOUBLE EXCLAMATION)

Today I will address a related category of douchebag but worthy of its own article, the people who do not un-rack their weights.  This includes any free-weight bench press, squat rack, smith machine, deadlift bar, curl bar or plate loaded machine.  People go to a machine, load up weight and when done leave it for the the next person to un-rack.  This is a complete time-waster for other gym members and completely selfish and lazy, ideally you get In, work hard, and get Out of the gym in 50 minutes or less.  Spending 10% or more of my time un-racking other peoples' weights really pisses me off.

Bench Press Disclaimer

There is one scenario I will not get too upset about and could actually argue it's fine to leave weights on.  For the typical bench press, the height of the bar is fixed so there is really no adjustment to the bar that needs to be made OTHER than adding and removing weights versus a Squat Rack where nearly every person may need to adjust the height of the bar before loading.  With the bench press the universal starting weight warmup for men is a 45lb plate on each side for 135lbs starting out.  If anybody warms up at a weight greater than that they would still need to start at two 45s.  It is also quite likely that a guy who leaves on the 45s on the bench when he is done, already had them on there when he started as well.  You must at least strip down the weights to only one 45 on each side, but I will not kill people for this.  If you leave any more weight than that, deal is off.

Now if your gym has a lot of women that normally use the bench press (or any "men" that look like they belong on the cast of Vanderpump Rules), you must un-rack all of the weights, no questions asked.  If not, you do NOT pass GO and do NOT collect $200.  Clean up your shit, don't be an ass.

100lb Plates for Calf Raises

This story occurs at the gym I use to very regularly attend and is among gym experiences that has angered me more than any other.  And it didn't have ANY direct effect on me.  I also must note that I live in Panama City Beach Florida, which for a long time was the Spring Break capital of the world and this incident happened during one of the Spring Breaks, so no idea where this joker was from.  He could be at YOUR gym!

One day I was minding my own business working out on the Bench Press in the outside garage section of my gym and within my view is the Smith Machine where I see a guy I had never seen at the gym before getting set up.  He moved the bar to about neck high on him, then went to grab some weights.  I was shocked when I saw him grab a 100lb plate!  It was quite a struggle for him to get that plate onto the bar, but he finally did.  He then proceeded to rack the other side with a 100lb plate in a similar struggle.  By the time he actually finished racking the bar I was finishing up my final set on the bench and began un-racking my own weights.  At this point I was quite curious as to what he was planning on doing on the smith machine with the 100s and it turns out he was loading up for CALF RAISES!!!  I witnessed this as I was just leaving the garage area to go inside and grab a new towel and couldn't help but shake my head at the effort he put forth to load up for such a minor exercise.  

Taking my opinion on 100lb plates out of the argument, I have no issue with this guy if he simply puts back his weights.  Doing whatever exercise you want, with whatever weight you want is fine with me, as long as you clean up your shit.

I was inside for two to three minutes tops and headed back out to the garage, fully expecting the Smith Machine was going to be taken as this Bozo had looked like he was just getting started.  When I got back out to the garage there was nobody at the Smith Machine, just the two 100lb plates.  I could not believe it.  Not only did this jackass load up the ridiculous 100s on the Smith, he did it for Calf Raises, performed at MOST 3 sets, THEN LEFT!!!

There are just so many layers of Douche here:

1. There exists a calf raise machine, right next to all of the HEAVY weighted plates and would be MUCH easier to load the ridiculous 100s as the calf machine loading bar is only a couple of feet off the ground.  So right of the bat I had a feeling this guy is a bit of douchebag as why in the hell would you go to all of that trouble to do f-ing calf raises on the damn Smith Machine!
2. There are A LOT of women at the gym that use the Smith Machine for various lunges, deep squats and various other leg exercises.  I am not a fan of the Smith machine but I do understand why people use it for certain exercises.  There are very few women that would have been able to un-rack those 100s from the bar at that height.  Women from the CrossFit Games would be challenged to SAFELY un-rack those weights.  I'd argue that nobody could safely un-rack those 100s from that height.
3. The Smith Machine was now un-usable until somebody un-racked the weights as there was no way I could do it from my chair as the bar was set above my head.
4. In a normal scenario where one leaves weight on the bar it is just inconsiderate to others and a waste of their time, in this case its that and than some.
5. If you are using the 100s, they should NEVER be racked on a bar that sits above your waist.  I personally hate that the 100s are even there as they have been left of bars sitting on the floor for deadlifts in the past, but that does not present the danger to others when un-racking.

The lesson is some people in this world are just douchebags we we must educate these specimens on acceptable human etiquette.  This guy had completely vanished by the time I had gotten back out to the garage, and I know because I checked the parking lot.  Which leads me to believe I was being too generous in stating he did 2-3 sets, he probably just did the one and took off.  If you are able to catch anyone in a similar scenario CALL THEM OUT!  If someone is strong enough to Rack the weights, they are strong enough to Un-Rack the weights.  Make them aware of their selfishness so hopefully they become just a tad more self aware, making the gym-world a better place for all of us.

Rowing Options for Wheelchair Lifter?

At the most basic level weight training for Strength, Power, Speed or Size is not rocket science as you must perform vertical pulls, vertical pushes, horizontal pulls and horizontal pushes.  There are a lot of assistance moves that can help balance out the major movers for each of these movements, but those are the main movements.  In terms of upper body wheelchair lifters are set with horizontal and vertical pushing with bench and military press variations, vertical pulls with pull up variations and lat pull downs but there is a bit difficulty with horizontal pulls.  There is a saying in weight training circles, "You Must Row to Grow".  Rows are a vital exercise for basic body balance and strength and to support anybody going for world record bench presses.  But what are our options for rows?

I was just reading an article on T-Nation, 8 Great Rowing Variations and this is a GREAT example of why I created this website as a lot of info out on the internet for exercise selection for a wheelchair lifter is crap.  I must preface by saying I really appreciate T-Nation, I have learned more about general lifting and nutrition from this website than anywhere else over my lifting years.  And the article also mentions the "Must Row to Grow" principle.

As wheelchair lifters we must focus on exercises that:

1. Ability to go Heavy
2. Are Safe or Stable
3. Are Low Maintenance

Heavy

Every set does not have to be an attempt to break a world record, or a personal record.  But for an exercise to be highly beneficial to the wheelchair lifter it must be something that you can continually progress on.  It must be an exercise you can go balls to the wall on.

Safe and Stable

To meet the above criteria the exercise must have the lifter in a stable position, where you are locked in and are not concerned with bracing yourself.  This criteria can be injury specific as I am a T7 Para and often need to use one of my arms to stabilize my self on a lot of lifts while in the chair.

Low Maintenance

This really applies to answering this question, "can I do this exercise without the help from someone else."  This applies to getting in position to do the lift as well as adding the weight, loading yourself and the weight.  This applies more to my situation as  I most often lift alone, but may be less of an issue for others.

These items are the basic criteria, and will probably break off into their own section under Exercises in the future.  The article lists eight different rowing variations and I would argue that not ONE of  these meets my criteria, each mainly failing on the Heavy and Stable criteria (related to your injury).  In the Wheelchair Exercise Index I only call out 2 variation of rows that meet the criteria and I stand by these.  In the T-nation article nearly every row involved a standing, bent over row variation.  Trust me, from my experience these lifts are mostly shit over time compared to the exercises I provided.  If you do not have your chest supported as you pull the weight horizontally towards you the stability is terrible.  There is a third rowing exercise that I will be adding to the index that works for the wheelchair lifter but is an advanced lift and requires some accessories making it a bit high on the maintenance side.

I have tried variations of bent over rows by staying in my chair, bending over with my chest nearly resting on my knees to lift a dumbell or a loaded barbell in a landmine fashion and the same problems arise.  

NOTE:(And these must be done with one arm as there exists no stability whatsoever to attempt to lift with two arms, which is a mute point since the wheelchair itself is in the way.) 
As I add more weight the chair itself becomes tippy, and doing a somersault while trying to do some rows is not the goal.  

Plate Loaded Row Machine

The best of the best options is a plate loaded row machine with a chest support.  The negative with this machine can be the plate loader is too high to reach from the chair.  Or we can reach it but adding a plate heavier than a 25 is difficult.

Dumbell Rows from Incline

This one always works!  This is my goto rowing exercise because I am in complete control.  I have stability and do not need help loading an apparatus that hits the ceiling.  The ONLY negative is I have to do these one arm at a time since I cannot grab the dumbells from the ground with both arms at once.  My progressions on this exercise are infinite with a simple dumbell handle where you add plates for weight versus having to keep a full set of dumbells in my garage.

Conclusion

Be careful with what you read on the internet regarding exercises.  Even at a respectable site such as T-Nation the articles can be oblivious to the needs of the wheelchair lifter as we are not the typical lifter or audience they have in mind.  At sites that are less respectable the exercises in question could be downright dangerous to your health!!!!  

Gym Douchebags Part 1

Each Friday I will post some gym rants that are less instructional/informational, nor specific to training approaches and exercise instruction/selection geared towards the wheelchair lifter.  Today I will jump into Part 1 of Gym Douchebags from the perspective of the wheelchair lifter.

There are some people at the gym that are either completely oblivious to Gym Etiquette or just oblivious to basic human decency and consideration towards others.  These people are either self-centered, selfish, inconsiderate to others or some combination of all of these.  In the world of a Gym I classify these people as Gym Douchebags.  These people either dress, do, say or emanate something that is annoying, distracting or inconsiderate to the normal humans at that gym.

The first set of traits I will hammer are the douchebags that leave their weights and equipment EVERYWHERE!!  (As Elaine would say DOUBLE EXCLAMATION)

Shit Everywhere

In the gym I use to VERY regularly attend there was a  "personal trainer", I use that term loosely as this individual was trying to run a side training business by bringing in clients acting as BROs in a group workout so he didn't have to give a piece of the pie to the gym, which is its own world of douchery, but I digress.  This guy and his crew would leave shit everywhere, especially dumbells.

One day this crew was performing seated dumbell military presses using a pyramid style where they had dumbell sets of 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, and 35s.  First off, just using that much equipment at one time is a douche move on its own due to the amount of space and resource it takes up, but I do not think these guys were all to concerned about any other person in the gym.  These guys went through their entire shoulder pressing workout cycling each person in and out for around 20+ minutes.  When they were done they stood around BS-ing for a bit and then just casually walked out of the gym and LEFT ALL THE DUMBELLS LAYING AROUND!!!  The result was AT LEAST 10 dumbells laying around taking up a considerable amount of space.  To the point where a couple of us that happened to be in the general area had no choice but to put away this equipment as a common courtesy to other humans.   I had thought they were just hitting the bathroom or getting some water, but no, completely took off.

There are at least two MAJOR reasons this is an actual problem and not me just being a grumpy guy:

1. Dangerous to all.  Dumbells are not necessarily stable, especially Non-Hex dumbells which can easily roll around and in this case did.
2. Nearly Impossible to wheel around.  Most gyms are already fairly tight on walkways and getting around equipment for a wheelchair lifter can be a bit like a downhill skiing slalom course, but add 10+ dumbells laying around and its a nightmare.

What I also do not get in this specific example is this main guy was trying to run an under the table training business attempting to cut out the gym.  If you were doing this, wouldn't you be a just a tad more sly and undercover about it and try to NOT draw attention to yourself?  You know a #1 way to to NOT be discreet?  Leave shit all over the gym angering everyone, inconveniencing most of them and possibly hurting a few of them.

All of these guys deserve some blame as it is just a common courtesy to not purposely inconvenience others when it is within your control.  But I heavily place the majority of the blame on the "trainer" as he should certainly know better, in addition to his covert op he was running.

The lesson is some people in this world are just douchebags we we must educate these specimens on acceptable human etiquette. If you are able to catch anyone in a similar scenario CALL THEM OUT!  Ask them if they plan on putting their shit away.  Or ask them if it is okay for someone else in the gym to use a dumbell yet, or the straight back bench as they stand BS-ing for 10 minutes after use of the equipment. Make them aware of their selfishness so hopefully they become just a tad more self aware, making the gym-world a better place for all of us.

Double Progression Method Best for Wheelchair Lifters

Basics

1. Double Progression Method is Easy, Effective and Efficient
2. Double Progression Method is Flexible.

What is Double Progression

In its simplest form the Double Progression method means progressing a rep count on a specific weight until you reach a goal rep count, then adding weight and starting over.  Double progression applies to progress your rep count and weight over time.  Too many lifters simply look at Weight as the singular item to progress, to just keep adding weight to a particular lift.  This works great at the beginning but soon you will plateau and frustration will set in.  This is where manipulating your reps and weight allows you to progress practically forever.

Simple Example

You set a target working set on the bench press of 5 sets at 225lbs.  Your target rep count may be 5x5 for 25 total reps.  Sets 1-3 you hit 5 reps, sets 4-5 you only hit 4 and 2 reps for a total of 21.  Your total rep count for this session was 21, and since you did not cross or hit 25, you remain at 225 for your next workout.

Easy, Effective and Efficient

I like simple approaches to training and tracking my training.  Training logs that offer up 20+ entries for a singular workout is way too much f-ing overhead.  This is our hobby, passion and fun time to get AWAY from stress and work.  I prefer a MAXIMUM of 10 entires for a given daily training log.  EX from Monday for a SHoulder workout.

Monday

MP @115 (50)3mins  

MP @185 3x (20) EMOM

MP @235 5x(12) 20rest

Snatch @70 3x(23) 

Snatch @95 3x(12)

Shrug @95 3x(38)

LK R/L/F2x(13,10,6)

The abbreviations are likely hieroglyphics, but the point is it is short and sweet, double progression allows this because I am not changing the weight 5 different times per exercise.  For us wheelchair lifters that is vital as we want to maximize our time in the gym actually exercising and NOT changing plates all the time.  So for Tracking purposes Double progression is best as well as for convenience.

Flexibility

Another benefit of the Double Progression method is the flexibility.  You can do one exercise in a 5x5 manner.  You can do another exercise that may be much closer to your max in a 5x2 manner where your total rep goal is 10.  The applications are infinite as you can also manipulate the rest periods to do quicker bouts of 10x3 to reach a 25-30 rep count or lengthen the rest and go back to a 5x5.  All with the same weight.  The options truly are endless which provides an extremely important element for any lifter, but more-so with wheelchair lifters, variety.

Since the majority of wheelchair lifters are going to be relegated to upper body only exercises we need ways to mix in variety as often as desired.  WIth Double Progression you can bounce around between different % of Max effort while still achieving progress on every single workout.

More Examples with Military Press.

5x5 @215lbs

10x3 @215lbs

5x2 @235lbs

10x10 @165

These are all different possibilities where you hit a rep goal, then add 5-10 lbs next week.

Conclusion

The double progression method is a great method for Efficient workout tracking and performance.  The method fights off boredom which is vital for us wheelchair lifters that only perform upper body lifts.  And finally the method is extremely easy to incorporate into any lifters goal whether that is muscle growth, strength or endurance.

100 Rep Challenges

As a general rule of thumb when working out over the long haul you need to mix it up.  Some very well established trainers in the industry state that the BEST workout you can do, is probably the one you are not doing.  Which simply means you need to mix it up!  Yesterday I did just that based on listening to a recent podcast of the Joe Defranco Industrial Strength podcast where he challenged listeners to bench press their bodyweight for 100 reps in as little as time as possible.  Joe did 215 pounds at around 16 minutes.  So for my chest workout yesterday I mixed this in to mix things up.

I must add in that variety is great, but don't go crazy and do something completely different every workout just for the sake of "muscle confusion".  Training is about improving and aiming for sets of goals.  Progressive overload via adding reps and weight over time is the best approach to reaching these goals, but no harm in an alternative workout here and there.

For my 100 rep challenge I did 185 on the bench for around 13.5 minutes.  If your bodyweight may be too much to attempt 100 reps, drop it down.  It is better to start lighter and work your way up.  And obviously the goal is not to do 100 straight reps, start with a set of 10, rest a minute or less, do a set of 8, then 7 and so forth.  It is very possible that the last set or two is a cranking out 5 or less reps.

There are two things I love about this type of workout for wheelchair lifter.  

1.  it is a fun challenge and a nice mixup.  

2.  Any program where we as wheelchair lifters can minimize the time we spend loading/deloading the weight is ideal.  We do a warmup, get in the chair to load to our bodyweight, then back on the bench for around 15 minutes of straight training time.

That is truly giving us a bang for our buck and any programs that have us changing the weight after every set has diminishing results as we spend most of the time getting in and out of our chair.

Give the 100 rep challenge a try!

Intro to Training

This area will include the meat of this site.  I will provide information and advice on free weight, weightlifting for wheelchair users.  As mentioned in the About section I have been in a chair for 20 years and have been lifting since well before I was ever in the chair.  I have to confess, I love lifting and working out.  There is a individual competitive fight and battle that occurs every time I go into the gym.  I love this and love competition, by trying to beat what I achieved the previous trip is a big motivator for me.  I believe that working out to gain strength and muscle is one of the best activities a wheelchair person can do to improve self esteem and stay healthy.  Plus, since we have to use our arms every single second of every single day muscle will literally pile onto the body when first getting into working out due to this indirect volume we get from everyday life.  People notice this and suddenly a person in a wheelchair is no longer the "wheelchair guy", they are now the person with big arms.  Guns matter, chicks dig them, guys envy them, its just the way it is!

There are obvious benefits beyond the asthetic as having more strength will allow you to do more things, its just that simple.  Strength can increase your independence and lessen any need you may THINK you have on others to assist you in any manner.  There really isn't a price one in a wheelchair can pay to be completely independent.  Strength truly can help you get there.