Anyone had 80 year old + clients?

[wonderboyWR]

I have an 86 year old woman. Has anyone worked with anyone around this age and what type of diet and workout did you put them on??!

[WoofieNugget]

Like any other client, it really depends on their goals - my client who was 83 wanted to improve her golf swing of all things.

However, most clients in that demographic need focus more on maintaining what strength they have and improving their ability to do ADL's (activities of daily living) like going up and down stairs, picking things up and putting them down, balance so that they don't fall down and often some injury management due to things like arthritis and joint replacements. It really depends on what level they are at.

What they don't need is a lot of fatigue or force. It is incredibly easy to go too far with elderly people. You should also definitely get doctor's clearance because she's likely on a ton of meds.

As for diet, don't bother and really you shouldn't be giving her diet advice, she's likely on a medically restricted one.

[samb867]

I've had a couple.

Both came to me with pretty significant difficulties (back injury and issues with hip replacement 2 years post-surgery) which they came to me to work on. After that they both stuck around for 'normal' PT though, to help with, as the poster above said, their daily activities.

I did mostly dumbbell and bodyweight work. A lot of working through basic movement patterns, working through positions and joint angles associated with falling and getting up, as that was their major concern. We also continued to work on mobility and basic strength. By the end of a few weeks the gentleman with the back injury could do Turkish Get-ups with a dumbbell, weighted step-ups and a variety of other movements he'd never tried, which impressed me a lot. I found both those guys listened really well and worked as hard as they could but were both very aware of their limits. This made them ideal clients as they were coachable without being afraid to tell me no or ask for rest.

I'd also point out the older generation is a growing market so business-wise it's definitely good to get experience working with that age group.

EDIT: And pretty much agree with the above as regards diet. If what she's eating is ****, feel free to point that out, but if her doctor has her on a nutrition protocol, do not mess with it!