Bench press for Ataxia.

My wife is struggling to control the bar during bench press. One arm is losing quite a bit of control. I moved her onto dumbbell bench press to see how bad things were and even with light weight she is very wobbly, particularly during the eccentric. However, she seems much better on the barbell press, though she has to lift a bit lighter it looks pretty solid. I can’t see getting any progression on the bench due to this lack of control, so do I just have her do the best she can, or is there an option ?

Is a weight in each hand more or less stable as a system if the weights are connected by a rigid bar, or are the two weights more stable if they must be independently stabilized by each hand/arm/shoulder? If you want her to hit herself in the face with a dumbbell, keep her on those. Maybe you really don't like this woman.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe

Is a weight in each hand more or less stable as a system if the weights are connected by a rigid bar, or are the two weights more stable if they must be independently stabilized by each hand/arm/shoulder? If you want her to hit herself in the face with a dumbbell, keep her on those. Maybe you really don't like this woman.

---

Clearly more stable with the barbell as I’ve already said in the post, but then I was thinking that perhaps the effort to stabilise the lighter dumbbell might be the better way forward ? She has trouble with steps, so I have her stepping on and off one of those gym steps. For the first few times I had to hold on to her in order for her even to climb onto the step, but now she’s doing it pretty easily.

If I try loading the barbell then she is equally likely to hit herself in the face. So, it goes back to a choice between an empty bar (more weight for strength) or lighter dumbbells (more challenging for co-ordination). I don’t have an Ataxia rehab manual, but most of the exercises I’ve watched seem to focus on the coordination aspect, so that’s why I thought that dumbbells could be a better option.

How heavy is her bar?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe

How heavy is her bar?

---

20Kg There isn’t a lighter barbell in the gym which will fit on the racks, but they do have shorter fixed barbells in different weights which she uses without a rack for pressing.

If you're not equipped to train her properly, don't do it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe

If you're not equipped to train her properly, don't do it.

---

I can get a lighter 15Kg bar for the rack we have at home. Is that the best option ?

Get a 10kg.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe

Get a 10kg.

---

Can you recommend one ? I don’t think I’ve seen those in Europe/U.K.

Ok got one from Rogue. Junior bar, who knew ? Well you did obviously. :cool:

Hi Rip,

So we have the new bar. Still struggling with coordination even at lighter weights. She isn’t finding it heavy, she is just wobbling all over the place even with the empty bar. It doesn’t get any worse or better with the 20Kg bar. I can’t fix the technique because it’s not a technique issue, she knows exactly what to do and before the ataxia worsened, she was lifting 30 Kg with good form. The safeties are in place, so I’m not concerned for her safety. Do we just persevere with the wobbling mess and move the weight up incrementally ?

I don't know. I've never trained anyone with a CNS disorder such as this.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe

I don't know. I've never trained anyone with a CNS disorder such as this.

---

Thanks anyway.