Please help me design a program for my 57 year old mother.

[Iron_Mark_2003]

I have been bodybuilding for 4 years but I still don't feel like I have the right knowledge on how to deal with my mothers needs. She's a 57 year old woman with diabetes. She can't due excercises like leg extensions or squats or anything that puts pressure on her knees. She has been advised by her doctor many times that she must workout to keep her health up. She also has ankle problems and sometimes foot problems so it is too soon for her to be on a treadmill. She can ride a stationary bike. She cannot jog and has not been able to for some time. At most she can power walk. Please help me designing a workout program with cardio for my mother. Thank you to all repliers, god bless you.

[Aurora]

diabetes is hard. Workouts need to be very brief. Id start with no more then 10-15 minutes of low intensity cardio and work up from there. Obviously on whatever equipment she is capable of using. No more then 45min total gym time. Always make sure she eats immediatley before working out.

You might want to break it up into a 3 day split. Mon/wed/fri

1) Back, calves, Hams

2) Chest, bis, abs

3) Shoulders, quads, tris

3 sets per exercise. No more then 3 exercises to start with per muscle group. Its usually best to keep beginners away from the dumbells at first because their form is really horrible. Plus they get frustrated trying to negotiate movements they are unfamiliar with. Machines with compound movements are great to start with because it teaches technique.

hope that helps

[stellar]

i showed my 55 year old foster mom a few new things in the gym a while back. She had been doing yoga for years and recently started weight training. Anyway i got her doing lat pull down and a few other things, a about a month later, she really injured herself in the gym and was in bed for weeks. So make sure that you actually train your mom and stay with her if you get her on weights, at least for the first while.

Why not incorporate swimming for cardio, or maybe one of those aqua fit classes?

[rippedoutchick]

water aerobics is a great idea for bad knees and tend to be popular with middle aged + women. she'll prob make friends!lol. keep it light to start but there should be no reason why she can't do exercises you're doing. form first, then weight.