Exciting news, the first person has been in touch with me to let me know that I’ve inspired them to start strength training…. my mother!

Meet Mum

Mum reluctantly agreed to proof read my first few blog posts. After having read the first 3 or 4 posts she admits that she has been inspired to start strength training. She has suggested that I use her as a case study and share her progress.

Rather than try and summarise her reasons for starting, I will ask her the questions that I would normally ask my patients and share her answers below. This should help illustrate the way in which you need to address your mindset towards strength training before you start. More information on this can be found on my first post How Do I Start Strength Training

Discussion

Do you mind saying old you are?

62

What exercise do you currently do?

Most days I walk for around 45 minutes with our dog.

What regular exercise have you done in the past?

This has been in the form of exercise, yoga, Pilates, aerobic and dance classes.

Can you go into a bit more detail such as when was the last time you did any of these, how regularly and how long did you persevere with them for?

Yoga was my last form of regular exercise which I did on a weekly basis and continued for about a year.  However this was about 5 years ago.

Have you ever done any form of strength training?

No.

From reading these posts what has made you want to start strength training now?

I find that certain movements cause me discomfort and I generally feel quite stiff especially after sleeping or sitting for a long time.

Can you elaborate on what types of movement cause you discomfort?

Sometimes climbing stairs and even walking can cause slight discomfort in my knees and leg muscles although at other times there isn’t a problem. I also suffer from tightness across my shoulders which can sometimes result in pain. There is a weakness in my left wrist which comes and goes and causes pain if I apply pressure to objects at certain angles.

Do you have any concerns about the future from not doing any regular exercise?

I do not want to become increasingly immobile as I get older and I hope that if I become a grandmother in the next few years I will be able to cope with all aspects of looking after and playing with my grandchildren.

What do you want to achieve from starting?

There are 3 things that I would like to achieve. Firstly I would like to be able to get up from the floor in a more elegant fashion and without it causing me pain. Secondly I would like to feel less stiff in general and to not have aches and pains when climbing stairs etc. Lastly I would like to feel more energetic and to tire less easily.

What barriers might there be to you persevering with strength training?

The main barrier would be if I had to change into exercise clothing during the day. Also I would be less likely to persevere if I did not have to report my progress to somebody.

How many times per week will you be able to commit to working out? How long for each session?

I would envisage working out for shorter periods at first, perhaps 20 minutes, and I could do this daily.

Will it be a set time each week? If so what days/time will it be?

I would prefer to commit to shorter workouts more often, rather than say 3 workouts of 1 hour plus in a week. This could then be included in my daily routine and would probably take place first thing in the morning or in the evening.

Where will you do your workouts?

There is an area in our living room which would give me enough space.

Where will you store any equipment so that is not hassle to get it out and set up?

I am planning to create a storage area in the adjoining room.

Let’s Summarise

As you can see if you want to start strength training, there is far more to consider than just buying a pair of dumbbells and finding a few exercises on the internet.

You really need to know why you it is that you are committing to a strength program. You need to acknowledge that there are going to be barriers along the way. The more you understand them now, the more you can plan and make strategies to avoid them impacting on progress.

Notice that we haven’t even started to look at how mum moves or where she might lack movement or strength. (That will come in the next blog post).

Everything discussed above will start to guide the objective assessment of looking at movement patterns. This will then really just refine what we have started to think about from today’s discussion. It is always the reason why you are doing this that should guide the next step.

It is important that you adapt a program to you and your goals rather than you trying to adapt to fit in with a program that you might have found.

From the above we can already start to create an idea of the program that mum will work on.

Given that mum already struggles getting up from the floor and find stairs can be painful we will work on some squat based movements.

Mum also indicated that she is anticipating grandchildren in the near future (no pressure there then!). This will involve the need to be able to pick a weight up from the floor. This could be replicated with a hinge movement such as a deadlift. Mum would also need to be able to carry a car seat into the house. A kettlebell suitcase carry (walking a set distance whilst holding a kettlebell/dumbbell) would simulate this.

For more ideas of adapting your strength program with looking after your grandchildren in mind, then read this post.

Mum also mentioned she has pain in her knees and a weakness in her left wrist. These may impact on her ability to do some of the above. Luckily all of the functional movement patterns can be regressed as well as progressed. We will cover more of these topic in future posts.

To be continued…

As mentioned above, the next post will include details of how the objective movement assessment with mum goes. The post will also include the program that mum and I have agreed on as a starting point. We will also agree a frequency of how often to check in on her progress and to provide accountability.

This post was written by myself, Chris Tiley, a physiotherapist based out of Movement Therapy Clinics in Harborne, Birmingham. For more information on how I can help you visit christileyphysiotherapy.com