Ok, I need help!
I have a client who used to be in fantastic shape; ready to ship off to BUDS, college athlete, but then was in a motorcycle accident that destroyed the nerves to his right bicep and deltoid. Of course this was a tremendous blow, and over the course of a few years caused his physical well-being to dramatically deteriorate.
After a failed surgery to remove the nerve in his right calf to replace the ones in his upperbody, he met with me to improve himself.
Here are the goals we put together;
1.) Loose 100 lbs
2.) Build funtional stength, especially in his left arm, since it must be used for everything
3.) Attempting to bring as much balance to the respective sides of his body as possible
Tough goals, I know. His financial sitiation is strained, so I am working with him for free, but this is a daunting task. Does anyone have any ideas/exercises that might be of some use to him? I’ve spent the past few days at the library, but have not found nearly enough useful info for him.
[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
Ok, I need help!
I have a client who used to be in fantastic shape; ready to ship off to BUDS, college athlete, but then was in a motorcycle accident that destroyed the nerves to his right bicep and deltoid. Of course this was a tremendous blow, and over the course of a few years caused his physical well-being to dramatically deteriorate.
After a failed surgery to remove the nerve in his right calf to replace the ones in his upperbody, he met with me to improve himself.
Here are the goals we put together;
1.) Loose 100 lbs
2.) Build funtional stength, especially in his left arm, since it must be used for everything
3.) Attempting to bring as much balance to the respective sides of his body as possible
Tough goals, I know. His financial sitiation is strained, so I am working with him for free, but this is a daunting task. Does anyone have any ideas/exercises that might be of some use to him? I’ve spent the past few days at the library, but have not found nearly enough useful info for him.[/quote]
Simple solution… call Jenny Craig, Billy Blanks, & Dr. Phil. There… problem solved. Next.
so, is his right arm paralyzed, or just somewhat lame?
His bicep and deltoid are usless, no arm flexion whatsoever, and he cannot use his shoulder at all. The nerves relaying impulses from his brain and spinal cord are destroyed. His forearm and tricep are fine.
Last time we worked out I had him go through the free weight section and rerack all the out of order dumbbells. It took about 20 minutes and he was soaked after it. The weights ranged from 5 lbs to 70lbs, which was the heaviest he could lift with his strong hand.
It was a decent workout, and he’s doing cardio twice a day, 5 days a week on his own. The guy is driven, he just feels extremly limited.
Eventually stem cell therapy would theoretically allow new nerves to be grown. Might have to move to Europe to get it done…
As far as the other goals? I don’t see why the defunct arm should change THAT much. Ok, so you are going to have to be creative, but let’s start with the basics, eh?
Squat substitute: Safety bar squats
Deadlift substitute: Safety bar good mornings…
Single arm snatches, and to balance that, you could have him do “shrug” rows…basically flex the upper back without moving the elbow joint.
I am by no means an expert though, but these ideas should help. Maybe you should PM one of the contributors?
They say the best cardio is swimming. I say you should get him started there.