Training my mother

[Yehonatanjordan]

I am intordicing my 66 year old mother to weight training before making her get online coached by you guys, i intorduced her to the overhead press and deadlift.
The lightest bar in the gym is 12.5 kilos.
The bar was to heavy for the press but it seemed fine for the deadlift.
I am really scared to hurt her, 12.5 kilos is light enough as not to cause damage, right?(her back did round at times at deadlift but it was just a technique thing).

[Alex Kovaleski]

Technically speaking, 12.5kg could be enough to cause an injury in someone if this amount exceeds their preparedness for a load. However, if your mother did not experience any pains (outside of the normal aches and DOMS that may be associated with one's first exposure to strength training) during or after the session then I doubt that 12.5kg is enough to harm her.

Despite what some may believe, her age does not render her without the ability to adapt to training - she'll be fine as long as she follows a sensibly-designed scheme of progression, just like anyone else.

I wish her the best in her training, and I applaud you for getting her started!

[jab]

Hi,

brilliant that you opened this thread as i am going to push my mother into barbell training in Feb and am thinking about "how to" already.

I do have a 30mm 10kg barbell at home, and i thought about "what if this is to heavy for her bench/press"? Well, i will use dumbells. I dont know how strong my mother will be with SBD-Press, but i dont care. I have dumbells and chairs and benches and bands and,...

The only thing i am worried about: I told her that i will make her work out and she was fine with it (she actually got a membership at a gym with saun and what not) although i told her that she had to come to my place (30-45min drive) so i can teach her the movements. Anyway, i am worried about her compliance. I think the best way to make her comply is to tell her regularly how i would love it and how good it would be for her AND, what i believe to be really important, that i dont push her too hard.

I started to tell her 3x per week at my place for 6 month,... at xmas she told me: i cant visit you 3 times, that'll be too much. She was actually concerned about telling me she cant do what i asked her to do. Alright, i get it, let me adjust, i will tell her in Feb, come over once a week and we go from there. Getting up from the chair without using her hands made her getting sore muscles in her quads. So i gotta be on my toes to really "feel" how much i have to tone it down so she will comply. Lets get to it, i am happy to learn

[Alex Kovaleski]

It sounds like you have a solid idea of how to proceed already. Ultimately, what will motivate someone depends most on the individual and what they will benefit from participating in a resistance training program. Particularly with individuals who experience difficulty with basic tasks of daily living (doing the laundry, cleaning the dishes, or even standing up without the use of their hands), reminding them that participating in a training program will fix the problems they face and make their experience of life much easier seems to be effective. This population, as you've already detected, is fearful about being pushed too hard because of an underlying belief that they are fragile. Your mother trusts you - as she should, since it seems that you understand how to take a reasonable approach to her introduction to this activity - and would benefit from your reassurance that her introduction will be based on her tolerance, she will not be doing a dangerous amount of exercise, and she is adaptable. The final thing I'd like to mention is that starting her on something that may be too easy is better than starting her on something that may be too difficult. By starting with something easier than what she expects, she may feel more comfortable proceeding with training.

[Yehonatanjordan]

thank you very much!

[jab]

Thanks Alex, thats exactly what i am going to do