Meet Jim

This week I had the pleasure of starting to work with Jim. He came in to see me wanting to learn more about getting stronger in the gym with the hope of improving his running.

Jim has generously given me permission to share his story with you. He does this in the hope that others are inspired to start their own strength training journey.

Jim’s Story

Jim is in his 70’s and up until last year was very active. Last year he…

• Was running 30-40 miles per week
• Won an over 70’s trail race
• Could run 10km in under 50 minutes

However, at the start of the year, he suffered a series of small strokes. This resulted in several weeks in hospital and a prolonged period of time resting and recovering at home.

Fortunately, he did not suffer any significant lasting impairments and is recovering well. He reports the only residual symptoms he experiences are an awareness of weakness in his left arm, mild delay in his speech and increased fatigue levels.

Return to Running

In April Jim managed to go back on his first run, barely managing 1/2km and feeling exhausted afterwards. He has continued to run 2-3 times per week and his mileage has gradually been increasing.

In the gym, Jim has been doing upper body exercises but has stopped doing leg exercises due to discomfort in his knees especially when he tried to squat. Jim was previously able to squat more than his body weight and could do multiple pull-ups.

The week prior to contacting me, Jim had managed his first 10km run again. Whilst he was happy that he could run 10km again, he was horrified that his time was 68 minutes (personally I wouldn’t be too disappointed with that time).

The feeling of exhaustion that Jim experienced for the remainder of the day after that running event made Jim feel very despondent. Previously he would have been able to run again within 30 minutes of finishing an event without having to think twice.

Goal Planning

In our session, Jim and I completed the goal planner worksheet together (the goal planner comes with the eBook and can be found by clicking here).

Here are the answers that Jim gave to the questions.

Why do you want to start strength training now?

To improve my running times and to feel less exhausted after runs.

What movements do you find difficult to do?

Doing deep squats or knee extension exercises in the gym.

What pain do you experience during these movements?

I experience pain in the front of both knees.

What activities do you avoid due to a lack of confidence?

I avoid doing any leg exercises in the gym.

What concerns do you have about your future?

I am worried about not being able to run at a competitive level again. I also worry about the level of exhaustion I feel each time I run.

What potential barriers might stop you from keeping to your routine?

If I don’t a clear plan I will likely lose interest and motivation.

How many times is it realistic for you to workout?

2-3 sessions per week. This will be in addition to 2-3 runs per week (1-2x 5km runs and 1x 8-10km run) and 1 yoga session.

How long would each session be?

I normally allow 60-90 minutes per gym session. This includes time for me to catch up and chat with people I know who are in the gym.

What time of day will you work out?

In the evenings.

Where will I work out?

At the gym

(The last few questions on the worksheet are not relevant as Jim has chosen to workout at the gym rather than at home).

From these answers, we could then fill out the next page on the goal planner.

Main Motivation:

To improve my running time and feel less exhausted after finishing a run.

Primary Goal:

Within 12 weeks to have run 10km in less than 60 minutes.

Longer-term goal: To break 50 minutes by the end of next year.

Most Likely Barrier:

Not having a plan.

Jim has taken steps to achieve his goal and overcome his barrier by seeking out help with his strength training. Finding someone to guide him gives him a clear plan and someone to be accountable to.

Our Plan

We have decided to meet every 2 weeks over a 12 weeks period (a total of 6 sessions). During each session, we will reevaluate the plan from the previous fortnight and progress it where appropriate.

Jim has agreed that I can keep you updated with the progress he makes during this time.

If you want to go through the Goal Planning exercise yourself you can download a copy for free by clicking the button below.

Warm Up

Following the goal planning part of the session, we then went into the gym. We started by going through a warm up routine that Jim will now do before each work out.

Jim did 10 repetitions of each exercise on each side. The exercises shown in the video above are as follows:

• Leg Swings (Forwards/Backwards, Side to Side, Kicking opposite hand)
• Power band drills (side steps, deadlifts, arm openings, arm closings, woodchops)

Click the image below for details of where to find a power band on amazon (affiliate link).

Muscle Testing

Jim was then put through his paces with some tests for both endurance and strength.

I won’t go into too much detail regarding the results of each test. I did the tests with Jim for 2 reasons:

• To see how confident Jim is with certain movements.
• To use them as a baseline to compare them to in 12 weeks’ time.

The hamstring bridge and side planks were done on both sides. The video only shows them done on one side. It was done on the other side, it just turns out I didn’t press play on the camera.

Jim’ 1st Workout

For Jim’s first workout we have started with 4 exercises.

Jim will pair the exercises into 2 pairs.

These pairs will be:

• Box squats & TRX rows
• Romanian deadlift & Single-arm shoulder press

Jim will perform 10-15 box squats (with a 16kg kettlebell) followed by 10-15 TRX rows. Jim will then repeat 2 more sets of these exercises.

Once all 3 sets are complete Jim will move onto 10-15 Romanian deadlifts (using the same 16kg kettlebell) followed by 10-15 single-arm shoulder press on each side (using a 7kg kettlebell or dumbbell). Once again he will repeat another 2 sets of these.

These 4 exercises cover 4 of the 7 functional movement patterns.

• Box Squat = Squat
• TRX Row = Pull
• Romanian Deadlift = Hinge
• Shoulder Press = Press

To learn more about the 7 functional movement patterns and how they can be progressed, regressed and adapted around pain click here.

Reps and Sets

Doing the above, Jim will have done 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions of each of the 4 exercises.

I have chosen to start with 10-15 repetitions initially in order for Jim to get confident with the movements. This also gives us a chance to assess how his knees respond to these exercises without having gone too heavy straight away.

When Jim comes back in 2 weeks, we will likely increase the load in order to bring the repetitions down. If knee pain has been an issue the exercises can be adapted to work around it.

For more information on how to pick an appropriate load and how many repetitions and sets to do, please read What are Reps and Sets?.

Click the image below for details of where to find kettlebells on amazon (affiliate link).