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!!!!  

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.

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.