I have a son with a chronic neuromuscular disease (mitochondrial encephamyopathy with muscle CoQ10 deficiency diagnosed by muscle biopsy) who I have helped train since he was 14, which is the earliest age my gym will allow some one use free weights.
He cannot do the strict Starting Strength lifts at any weight because he has low coordination and he has language difficulties which make it hard for him to use verbal prompts. He uses a leg press machine instead of squatting. I would love to find a way for him to do some sort of modified dead lift -- any ideas out there?
His favorite exercise has been a pseudo press done on a bench like this:
http://allthingsrecreation.com/wp-co...t-Machines.jpg
He began only being able to lift the handles which he would do with the palms of his hands, because his grip was too weak to actually grasp the handles. Now, after 3 years of doing this 3 days a week his personal record is 150 lbs (75 lbs on each side)! His form is not great, so he does sets of 1 and holds them for a few seconds, and I have to slightly push against his abdomen while he does them since he is still learning to brace himself with his abs,
Over 3 years his leg press has also gone from 30 lbs to a personal record of 310 lbs, Most days, he refuses to do any bench press equivalent, so he has made little progress there.
He hated doing thiese lifts at first, but after about six weeks when he started to see his numbers go up, he really got into it and has enthusiastically stuck with it ever since. Now he is the one who wants to set a personal record. Not me.
An added benefit to his training is that while most of his teen age classmates with disabilities are now on meds to control their mood swings (most of which cause huge weight gains) we have so far been able to keep him off of psychoactive drugs,. Thank God.
My advice to those with loved ones with disabilities is find some way, any way, to have them lift with a goal toward lifting serious weight. It greatly improves their quality of life and by extension, yours.