Exercise for a lady with health problems

[RottenWillow]

My mother needs to develop a exercise plan but has some pretty significant health problems. We need some help developing a comprehensive exercise plan that accounts for her body type and health problems.

She is 40 years old and her cholesteral is low with no heart disease. She is approximately 20-25 pounds overfat. Her body shape is very much like mine, naturally muscular lower body with small shoulders and is very buxom. She has chronic shoulder and upper back pain most likely due to inactivity and her breast size.

In no particular order the problems include: occasional, but debilitating siatica (sp?), painful varicose veins, arthritis in one ankle and chronic pain in both knees. The arthritis and knee pain are all from old injuries. She is bordline hypertensive and has a high pulse rate. She is treated with Tenormin for the BP and pulse rate.

Her fittness goals are to lose the extra bf and to strengthen her shoulders and back to in order to hopefully eliminate the pain. She also hopes to use exercise to alleviate the lower body pain as much as possible.

Thanks in advance to all.

 

[makedah]

This is a great article:

Old Broads: The Golden Years of Pumping Iron

The whole site, Krista Smash!!! is great for any newbie.

 

[Puddles]

Makedah....are you callin 40 yr. old women "OLD BROADS?" I used to like you.

Anya, I'm 37 and have chronic pain in my shoulder and arm, I have the occasional siatica problems too. Before I started training I was on high blood pressure meds and some other meds for my problems...I'm now off all meds and only take vitamins and get occasional massage therapy. My husband will be 40 in Jan. and he's got arthritis but he still trains and feels better for it...it definitely gets worse when he's not training. Getting her into the gym training will do her so much good! Our physical problems have definitely become less with serious training. My husband has trained off and on since he was a kid, but I only started a year ago.

Have her start out with light to moderate wlights for a few weeks, just teaching her propper form, then start pushing her to do heavier weights. Teach her 3 different exercises for each bodypart and have her do them once a week, 3 sets per exercise, 10-12 reps per set so that she's not just moving the weight, but really putting some effort into it. Write it all down for her so that she's in the gym 4 or 5 days a week...if she was only to go in 3 days, she wouldn't be able to hit all of her body parts with a good amount of energy and her work outs would be take up a lot of time on those days. Within a few months she'll feel much better, and even if the scale doesn't show much of a difference, her clothes will. Make sure she's eating pleanty of protein, low on the carbs and drinking lots of water.

She may want to try glucosamine for her arthritis...it takes about a month for it to really kick in, but it's helped us. With her high b/p and vein problems, I'd advoid doing much if any cardio, maybe a nice pilates video would be more beneficial for her.

 

[gingersnap]

I am 41 and doing BFL www.BFL.com there are a lot of "older" people on this program

 

[valerie]

Anya--I started lifting at age 39, had no health problems to deal with. Now I am 45 and still no health problems. I see lots of women in their 60's and 70's who all make the same comment " I wish I had started when I was your age!". These women all have benefited greatly even though they got a late start. Certainly better late than never. Your Mom can make some wonderful changes to her life, by adding some activity to her day. I wish her the best and hope that she finds joy in whatever activity she chooses.

Wonderful artilce, Makedah---I am fortunate to have Kelly Nelson as a friend. She is responsible for me getting into bbing. She was my mentor and guide thru my first few comps.

 

[RottenWillow]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

Makedah thanks for the link. Since she feels like my stepdad and I are ganging up on her a bit she is a little resistant even to bb advice she knows is sound. I'll send her that link. Looks like a very impressive website.

The elements of the workout for her that I really needed help with related to her health problems. These are the main points:

1)Any cardio work must be zero impact because of her injuries.
2)Which bb movements would be a best choice for her because of her old leg injuries?
3)Is there any possibility that some exercises could aggravate her varicose veins?

Ms. Puddles, she has been taking a condroitin and glucsosimine combo for about 3 years. It definitely has decreased the amount of audible grinding in her knees. Without it I dont think any exercise at all would be possible. Did I understand you correctly to say that your husband's arthritis pain actually
decreased with bb? That would be a great selling point with her.

 

[Puddles]

Anya, yes, his arthritis has decreased with bb. He definitely feels worse when he's not training (like if he takes a week off). There is one exception, cardio. The treadmill doesn't treat his hips and knees well when he's doing it more than a couple of days a week.