Sit up assistance device?

[Dulanic]

Hello everyone. I wanted to get some advice with something to help me do sit ups. I can not do them comfortably on my own due to a medical condition that causes my muscles to tremor if I put too much tension. This applies to lifting weights also but I have found ways to still allow me to do some lifting of free weights.

I just need something that will give just a little bit of "assistance" to help me so I don't shake uncontrollably while doing them. I don't want something that will make them useless either as I do obviously need to use the muscles to do most the work or it wouldn't be a workout.

I've tried crunches but again I begin to shake again and it doesn't work well, I find sit ups with some slight assistance seems to work best. I had a old device my wife had that was 25 years old that had a spring and handles but it snapped and while it worked, it added too much assistance and made it feel like the device was doing all the work.

 

[z1ggy]

Sit ups are a waste. They hurt your neck and back. Try things like planks, C-sits or other moves where your goal is to maintain a contracted core.

 

[Dulanic]

No can do, again constant tension or a constant contracted core will cause my body to tremor. Same reason I can't bench so I do curls and short constant lifts but I can't "hold" a position /w constant contraction of the muscle. It sucks horribly, but like I said medical condition that can't be fixed so it is what it is and I have to make the best of it.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

No can do, again constant tension or a constant contracted core will cause my body to tremor. Same reason I can't bench so I do curls and short constant lifts but I can't "hold" a position /w constant contraction of the muscle. It sucks horribly, but like I said medical condition that can't be fixed so it is what it is and I have to make the best of it.

What medical condition are you referring to, if you don't mind me asking? If you can buy some elastic exercise bands, you can actually tie one (or more than one) in front of you to a post/table/anything and hold it close to your chest. As you go down, the band will stretch and provide more aid, as you begin to sit up, the tension in the band will decrease and the exercise will become more independent.

 

[Dulanic]

What medical condition are you referring to, if you don't mind me asking? If you can buy some elastic exercise bands, you can actually tie one (or more than one) in front of you to a post/table/anything and hold it close to your chest. As you go down, the band will stretch and provide more aid, as you begin to sit up, the tension in the band will decrease and the exercise will become more independent.

No I don't mind at all. See my post below. Unfortunately, it has progressed some, but overall I consider myself very lucky. Now it is just continuing to be active to try to offset what I can.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1199652

We do have some elastic bands, I will give that a try for sure

 

[SociallyChallenged]

No I don't mind at all. See my post below. Unfortunately, it has progressed some, but overall I consider myself very lucky. Now it is just continuing to be active to try to offset what I can.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1199652

We do have some elastic bands, I will give that a try for sure

Ah, multiple sclerosis. How long have you been doing resistance exercise now?

Hope the bands help. Just make sure, as you already know, not to push it too hard. Don't want you to have fatigue for days just because of a couple of exercises.

 

[Dulanic]

Ah, multiple sclerosis. How long have you been doing resistance exercise now?

Hope the bands help. Just make sure, as you already know, not to push it too hard. Don't want you to have fatigue for days just because of a couple of exercises.

Oh it doesn't bother me besides tremors. I walk, jog use an eliptical etc... I just have decided to start working on the core muscles and arms more recently as I noticed my arms were getting rather weak. I don't expect to be a muscle machine, just to keep my strength up.

Luckily, the fatigue portion doesn't effect me and I haven't relapsed in 4 years. Medication can do wonders

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Oh it doesn't bother me besides tremors. I walk, jog use an eliptical etc... I just have decided to start working on the core muscles and arms more recently as I noticed my arms were getting rather weak. I don't expect to be a muscle machine, just to keep my strength up.

Luckily, the fatigue portion doesn't effect me and I haven't relapsed in 4 years. Medication can do wonders

Interesting. I've learned quite a bit about MS in physical therapy school, but haven't actually seen it out in the clinic too much. Yeah, keeping strong is a great idea. How bad are the tremors though?

That's great. I don't have much experience with the frequency of flare ups/remissions, but 4 years seems quite good.

 

[HomerX]

MS can be really nasty!

My aunt died because of MS a few years ago... shortly after the diagnosis she needed a wheelchair, was unable to do the most easy things on her own.. like a paralyzed person...

A friend of mine was diagnosed with MS 2 Years ago too... but till today he had no major problems...

Probably the treatment of MS has improved drastically over the last years.. good luck with it!

 

[Pia]

Sucks that you have this illness. Good that you are training.

Can you elaborate on what the muscle tremors are like? Do they make you lose strength, control, or what? It sounds like they trigger very quickly.

You said you can't bench press. Does this mean you can't take an empty bar and press it once without getting the tremors?
Can you do a standard push-up? A push-up while on your knees?
How much static grip strength do you have? Can you keep standing while holding heavy weight?

Also, do you need to try to avoid triggering the tremors, or can you freely push to the point when they come and then wait for them to go away? How long does it take for them to subside?

If you can't do any movement where you have to hold core tension, the remaining option for gaining strength is explosive exercise. I have some suggestions in mind but I'd like to hear more about your strength and limitations first.

 

[Dulanic]

I am trying to think of the right way to explain them... my dr calls them tremors I think of it more like a shaking. It is lifing of any heavy amount causes a little I guess spasm in the muscle. If you saw me and anyone who does see me has no clue there is anything wrong.

Some examples of what it does to me is walking down stairs... as my leg will shake. It isn't to the point I can't walk and most people wouldn't even see that it happened. It is minor and doesn't become a problem unless I am carrying something heavy like when I moved the grill up to our patio.

The cause seems to be when the muscle contracts with extra tension from weight. It didn't cause complete loss of control but can make it very difficult and uncomfortable to do most workouts. I can reps of 15 bicep curls at around 25 per arm or more with less reps. I also, with the same weights, lift the weights straight out to the side 90 degrees. Same amount of reps.

Pushups, crunches, pull ups all are too much to do as my muscle behind to spasm some. Imagine me as a bobble head when doing most of those just with shaking further down. They don't stay. Out is only during the use of the muscle.

Sorry for any typos as I am typing this on my phone during my morning walk.