Sarcoidosis

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Doctors and BBM-staff,

A new cliënt wants me to train her to get stronger generally and do the powerlifting movements. About 10 years ago she had to use a wheelchair due to Sarcoidosis. She has no walking or moving disabilities now, but she is scared to ever return to a situation like that. The Sarcoidosis manifests itself primarily in the joints of her lower body. She sees a physical therapist twice a week and she got her permission to train. As an aside she was diagnosed with Hashimoto.

She is seeking the guidance of a trainer because on her own she trains legs 5 times a week and does doubbles on the leg press.

At first thought, I see no problem to train her. I would train her like anybody else, start slow and build up gradually. Keeping in mind not to overdo her, but not treating her as extra fragile as well.

Are there any tips to help her best as possible?

She asked how she could be sure not to overdo herself. My first thought having to rate some subjective measures a couple of times a week

  • soreness
  • tiredness
  • perceived recovery
  • motivation
  • how hard did training last time feel

Thanks in advance

Kind regards,
Steven

2

Steven,

As you alluded to, there really isn’t any specific training do’s and don’ts that apply to this client, though I can understand the abundance of caution.

I don’t know that you need to take an inventory of soreness, fatigue, recovery (does she know what this means), etc. at times removed from exercise. However, I do think using RPE to manage intensity and session RPE to manage volume will be useful. This isn’t to say that your idea isn’t a good one, however I don’t know that it will add reliable information for you to manage training differently than using RPE and sRPE. Definitely following up with this client and asking how they feel as an open-ended question can be useful.

Let us know how it goes!

-Jordan