Exercise.

[sam i am]

Hello, I am C-5 complete and it's been 16 years now.What are the best exercises were shoulders and abdomen? My biceps are okay, but triceps are very weak.

Any advice?

[SCI-Nurse]

Did you not get any type of Home Exercise program from rehab?
You should always stretch muscles first before exercising. Abdomen is difficult but leg raising and bending over and side to side maneuvers are helpful.
Shoulders- again stretching and putting the shoulder through a complete range of motion is important.
CWO

[Active Hands]

Hi,
Do you go to a gym or use own free weights at home. Weights machine wise you can try shoulder press, seated rowing, seated pull down (like a chin up), and lat pull down. At home using your own free weights you can copy the movements of these exercises with your own free weights. Abs is much harder to do if you have very little stregth there to work with. You can try lying on your back with knees up - possibly tied together with feet apart to stop them falling to one side. Yu can then hook your ands under your legs and try doing sit ups while assisting the movements by pulling your body upward using your hands under your legs. Or get someone else to assist you with the movement and try to do it yourself with any flickers of movement you already have.

If you don't have a strong hand function try using our gripping aids to help you grip free weights of gym equipment.

http://www.activehands.co.uk/

Rob.

[roc21]

depends on your function....you might have to do variations of overhead presses, side/front raises.....abs, do crunches........check out the link below for ideas