Client's Brainstorm Sparks Trainer's Creativity

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Profile:

Subject: Donald R. Scheiman

Location: Sunnyvale, California

Position and Company: Personal Trainer, YMCA and Gold’s Gym

Training a Special Client: Louise Baker, a 40-year-old who had lost her left arm above the elbow several years ago, came to Donald Scheiman for personal training at the Y. She had a 5-inch “wing” (she dislikes the word “stump”) on the left side.

Although Scheiman, who has an ACE Clinical Exercise Specialist certification, had never worked with a client with an amputation, he was eager to help. “Louise’s left side had atrophied, so we wanted to increase strength and size in this area of the musculoskeletal system while maintaining bone density in the upper body,” he says.

Scheiman first used isometric modalities. For example, he trained the anterior deltoid by placing the palm of his hand on Baker’s rear deltoid and having her push her shoulder against the force of his hand, holding 5 to 10 seconds for one set of eight to 10 reps. He used a similar method for side lateral, rear extension and front raise exercises.

Tailoring Weight Training to Baker: Baker brought her prosthesis to her second session, but she and Scheiman soon found that the prosthetic elbow prevented a good grip. They quickly dropped the idea of doing any work with the prosthesis in place.

Then inspiration struck Baker.

“She looked at the Cybex lateral arm raise machine,” explains Scheiman, “and asked if the unit would work for her. We dropped the seat to a full-bottom position, and Louise’s wing was able to do a one-arm lateral raise with a fixed weight of 10 pounds. Eureka!”

Inspired by Baker, Scheiman also began to think outside the box. “The next breakthrough prompted us to have Louise turn facing the Cybex arm pad. By moving to the very edge of the seat and placing her wing on the face of the arm pad, she could do a front raise with a fixed weight of 20 pounds for a set of 15 reps.”

Scheiman was excited. “All sorts of mental pictures were jumping in my head. The one question that kept coming up was how to get something to attach to the wing so a force could be applied without hurting the skin and causing discomfort.”

Creating the Baker Rig: To solve the problem, Scheiman bought a small neoprene padded ankle strap with a Velcro seal. With Baker in a seated position, he used the ankle strap as a cuff, attaching it to Baker’s wing and connecting it to a rubber band, which he secured to a doorknob at her shoulder height. “We could see this idea looked good,” explained Scheiman. “However, Louise has a fairly small wing. Unless a constant force was held on the cuff, it kept falling off as she lowered her arm. So we placed a second, lightweight rubber band on the same ring that secured the first band and ran it over Louise’s shoulder at the base of the levator scapula and trapezius, running diagonally across her back.”

Both Scheiman and Baker were excited. “Next Louise tucked the cuff-securing band under a weight belt. Then she had both arms free and could do a full, fixed-weight cable flye with 12 pounds on the wing.” That’s when the Baker Rig was conceived! It has since been refined and now consists of a TKO Sports Group #106 padded ankle strap, a rubber band, a weight belt and three cord connector loops (made of parachute line 4 inches in diameter).

Client Success: Baker is thrilled that she finally has an effective set of exercises to help keep her back straight, strengthen her neck and shoulders and reverse the progressive atrophy that has plagued her left side. “After just 5 weeks Louise already sits taller, with her shoulders more squarely positioned,” says Scheiman. “It will take months, if not years, for Louise to fully rebuild her left side, but she is determined, and now we have the means to make it possible.”

Inspiring the World to Fitness: Scheiman’s career as a trainer began late in life. “I had a brain tumor when I was 58,” he said. “I had never gone to a gym before, but I did rehab work with weights and became interested in personal training.”

His mission is to work with people who really need his help. “I’m 70 years old, so I don’t have a lot of time left. I train one 101-year-old client at his retirement home. He trains with me because he wants to stay out of a wheelchair.”