Training my Mom

[Doublebase]

My mom wants to lose weight. She is 50 years old. Diabetic and very overweight. She never really weight trained in her life. She is currently walking and doing some weight training with me. She has a hard time climbing stairs and doing daily tasks that take some strength. I have her doing some basic movements with very light wieght. I want to get her a little stronger so she deosn't have such a hard time doing basic tasks. She is doing this 2 days a week.

Deadlift with E-Z curl bar and 10lbs on each side. Totals 35lbs. The olympic bar was to heavy. 2 sets of 12.

BW squats. 2 sets 12.

Lunges. 1 or 2 sets of 10. 10lb DB's.

Stiff-leged deadlifts. 2 sets 12. E-Z curl bar w/ 10lb each side.

lat pulldowns
DB rows
Standing shoulder presses
curls
tricep extentions
flys

These are some of the basic exercises I have her doing. Should I have her weight train or just concentrate solely on cardio?

 

[P-funk]

some training some cardio.

do basic exercises.....I don't know what her technique looks like on things like squats, deadlifts and lunges, but I would probably stick to things that are basic like glute bridges, ball wall squats, etc....and then progress to those more technical lifts.

Use circuits to help get her moving.

Have her do some sort of activity each day, like walking, to try and help improve insulin sensitivity.

 

[Doublebase]

some training some cardio.

do basic exercises.....I don't know what her technique looks like on things like squats, deadlifts and lunges, but I would probably stick to things that are basic like glute bridges, ball wall squats, etc....and then progress to those more technical lifts.

Use circuits to help get her moving.

Have her do some sort of activity each day, like walking, to try and help improve insulin sensitivity.

She walks about twice a week and strength trains with me twice a week. I have her cool down her workouts with some boxing. She hits the heavy bag and then the focus pads. She enjoys it. She wants to start weight training on her own. She has my old smith machine, that has a stack with a bottom and top pulley. I'm just trying to give her some basic lifts she can perform with that.

 

[soxmuscle]

Send her this way..

 

[KelJu]

I fought the urge to make a joke, because the thread title was just too funny, but Sox did it for me so I don't have to.

Kudos to DoubleBase for helping your mom. Does she have any problems that need to be taken into consideration: posture, lower back, joints? IS she type I or type II diabetic? What does her typical diet look like?

 

[soxmuscle]

I fought the urge to make a joke, because the thread title was just too funny, but Sox did it for me so I don't have to.

It was inevitable...

 

[Doublebase]

I fought the urge to make a joke, because the thread title was just too funny, but Sox did it for me so I don't have to.

Kudos to DoubleBase for helping your mom. Does she have any problems that need to be taken into consideration: posture, lower back, joints? IS she type I or type II diabetic? What does her typical diet look like?

She has a hard time getting up from lying down on her back. She always needs help with that. The majority of her fat is in her midsection. She has lower back issues. I'm trying to get that worked with DL's and SLDL's. Very light weight BTW. Her left shoulder bothers her also. She went to physical therapy for it and that helped. It does tend to bother her when we lift though. I'm just trying to get some blood flowing through her muscles. Making her a little looser. I'm not sure if she is type 1 or 2. I will ask her.

 

[Doublebase]

Send her this way..

immature...

 

[KelJu]

She has a hard time getting up from lying down on her back. She always needs help with that. The majority of her fat is in her midsection. She has lower back issues. I'm trying to get that worked with DL's and SLDL's. Very light weight BTW. Her left shoulder bothers her also. She went to physical therapy for it and that helped. It does tend to bother her when we lift though. I'm just trying to get some blood flowing through her muscles. Making her a little looser. I'm not sure if she is type 1 or 2. I will ask her.

Well be real careful with the DLs and SLDLs. The starting weight seems to be low enough. Just keep the weight low for a while while she develops her form. It may take months for her to strengthen her back, hips, and legs enough to keep proper form while doing those. What does her form look like now?

 

[Doublebase]

Well be real careful with the DLs and SLDLs. The starting weight seems to be low enough. Just keep the weight low for a while while she develops her form. It may take months for her to strengthen her back, hips, and legs enough to keep proper form while doing those. What does her form look like now?

Her DL form is surprisingly good. Her squats need work. She does them free standing. SLDL needs work also. She tends to bend her knees on the way down. Her flexibility needs work also.

 

[Yanick]

She sounds very detrained. I would start out real slow, like all BW circuit type training. For hip/leg strength have her walk stairs and ball wall squats like Pat suggested. Also get her to start a basic stretching routine, and get her a pedometer (step counter). Those things are actually great for older people who want to increase activity daily.

KEEP HER HYDRATED. This is a monstrously important facet for older diabetics. Teach her to drink adequate fluids throughout the day, 2-3liters atleast...not just while training, but all the time. I can't stress this enough, dehydration coupled with diabetes may be life threatening...Google Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar Non-Ketotic Syndrome.

Good job on getting your mom to take a step in the right direction with her health. Chances are she's on metformin (or something similar) and that won't change, but if she's on insulin tell her to expect to decrease or maybe even eliminate it altogether, depending on her consistency, progress and diet.

 

[Doublebase]

Good job on getting your mom to take a step in the right direction with her health. Chances are she's on metformin (or something similar) and that won't change, but if she's on insulin tell her to expect to decrease or maybe even eliminate it altogether, depending on her consistency, progress and diet.

Her doctor told her she needs to do physical activity 30 mins a day. I'm going to train with her today. I'm going to move more toward circuit training.

 

[Yanick]

Yeah but the medical communities idea of physical activity is not really what fitness people think of physical activity.

In medicine physical activity is really just plain basic activity, like walking, shopping etc.

When we think of physical activity its busting ass in the gym and whatnot.

 

[Doublebase]

She has Type 2 diabeties. Yes but Yanick my Mom is very overweight. She needs to lose weight.

 

[Yanick]

I understand what you're saying and commend you for it. I just wanted to point out that when the doc typically says to increase physical activity, its like walk for 30 min or whatever.

Medicine doesn't take exercise too seriously. The most i have learned of biomechanics is steady or unsteady gait. As far as exercising we are just told 20 min of aerobic activity, or increase activity or weight bearing exercise.

Its really an overlooked aspect of medicine. So if you progress your mother to a high level of fitness, it will only work out better for her.

Also, doctors are, for the most part, not teachers. They will tell you something like lower your sodium or increase activity but will rarely go into details. Teaching is more of a nursing function, which is one of the reasons why i am drawn more to it, a nurse will sit down and say, get outside and walk down the block and back until it becomes easy, then walk around the block etc. Or avoid canned foods, spinach, celery etc.

 

[Doublebase]

Ok thanks Yanick. Last night our workout looked like this. 100 jumping jacks. 20 second rest after every 25. This really pushed her. 2 sets of DL with just the olympic 45lb bar. 1 set of bent over rows w/ e-z curl bar and 5's on each side. 2 sets of DB rows with 10lb DB's. 1 set of bicep curls with e-z curl bar. 3 sets of knee up crunches, when you sit on the edge of a bench and lift your knees. I had her stretch her legs out good. We spent a couple mins doing that. Then she ended with 1 mile on the elliptical, that took her 15 mins to complete the 1 mile. She said it was the toughest workout yet but she felt really good afterwards.

 

[Doublebase]

BTW she is doing the nutri-system food. It is working really well for her. I explained that its not really nutritious but it is teaching her portion control. She has lost 18lbs since the New Year.

 

[Perdido]

Make sure she gets enough calcium in her diet. Add a suppliment if needed. Increased activity with brittle bones caused problems for my mother in dealing with diabeties & the diet she maintained to keep it under control.

 

[CowPimp]

A lot of good suggestions in here. Assuming no gross movement dysfunction though, I see no problem having people squat and deadlift. However, make sure you are working within her flexibility limits. Picking up an empty Olympic bar off the floor in a deadlift is virtually impossible to do with good for unless you have fanfuckingtastic hip mobility. I would start it rack style by picking it up off of something to ensure zero compensation at the lumbar spine.

What's the issue with her shoulder? Biggest culprits with the shoulders seem to be lacking strength/stability in the scapular stabilizers, lacking mobility in the thoracic spine, tight posterior shoulder capsule, and lacking mobility in the opposite hip.

 

[Doublebase]

A lot of good suggestions in here. Assuming no gross movement dysfunction though, I see no problem having people squat and deadlift. However, make sure you are working within her flexibility limits. Picking up an empty Olympic bar off the floor in a deadlift is virtually impossible to do with good for unless you have fanfuckingtastic hip mobility. I would start it rack style by picking it up off of something to ensure zero compensation at the lumbar spine.

What's the issue with her shoulder? Biggest culprits with the shoulders seem to be lacking strength/stability in the scapular stabilizers, lacking mobility in the thoracic spine, tight posterior shoulder capsule, and lacking mobility in the opposite hip.

Good point, I will try that. She hurt it at work lifting something heavy about 6 months ago. She was unable to lift her arm above her head. Even putting on a shirt was tough for her. She went to the doctors and did some physical therapy. That helped it out a lot. It still bothers her sometimes when we lift.

 

[Doublebase]

Any cardio BW exercise you guys can think of other then jumping jacks, moutain climbers and jumping rope? I know my Mom cannot do a burpee.

 

[chiquita6683]

My mom wants to lose weight. She is 50 years old. Diabetic and very overweight. She never really weight trained in her life. She is currently walking and doing some weight training with me. She has a hard time climbing stairs and doing daily tasks that take some strength. I have her doing some basic movements with very light wieght. I want to get her a little stronger so she deosn't have such a hard time doing basic tasks. She is doing this 2 days a week.

Deadlift with E-Z curl bar and 10lbs on each side. Totals 35lbs. The olympic bar was to heavy. 2 sets of 12.

BW squats. 2 sets 12.

Lunges. 1 or 2 sets of 10. 10lb DB's.

Stiff-leged deadlifts. 2 sets 12. E-Z curl bar w/ 10lb each side.

lat pulldowns
DB rows
Standing shoulder presses
curls
tricep extentions
flys

These are some of the basic exercises I have her doing. Should I have her weight train or just concentrate solely on cardio?

If your still having her do lunges, try walking lunges without any weight. Go down a hallway and back maybe. Everything looks great, I think its so sweet that you're helping her.

 

[chiquita6683]

If your still having her do lunges, try walking lunges without any weight. Go down a hallway and back maybe. Everything looks great, I think its so sweet that you're helping her.

I mean have her work up to that, I guess maybe walking lunges would be a more advanced move. IDK?

 

[Doublebase]

I mean have her work up to that, I guess maybe walking lunges would be a more advanced move. IDK?

I have her doing them already. She does them with 10lb DB's. Her from isn't that great so I may take away the DB's today.

 

[Doublebase]

My mom had a check up yesterday. I don't know all the medical terms but her doctor was really impressed with all her levels. Something was at a 9 and went down under 6 and that was really good. Some enzyme in her liver was really high before and now is at a normal level. She lost 10lbs and a substantial number of her BMI. She is really happy and motivated now. You have to love exercise and eating right. I wish more people would practice a healthy lifestyle.

 

[Metallibanger]