Hey! So I met this lady – she is 67 years old. At first, she scared me because she was just so freaked out about her condition.
I’m good now, thanks.
Here’s the case: she has Ortheoarthitis in both knees.
At one time, she was a big time runner – in her 40’s and 50’s, she ran almost every day. She had never done any running events, she just liked to run well. Over the past 10 years, her running decreased because her knees were getting worse. Her doctor told her – with big !!!! points – not to do squats or lunges because they would make everything worse. When we first started, this client would not let me even look at her legs, let alone touch them.
She wanted to lose weight.
That’s something I have never heard before.
And, if she lost weight, she would look better and her knees would be better off. Not necessarily. If you lose too much weight too fast, you run the risk of sacrificing a lot of strength due to muscle loss.
WITHOUT MUSCLE, WE HAVE NO STRENGTH. WITHOUT STRENGTH, WE CAN’T GET STRONGER.
I just thought I’d point that out.
(I have a feeling that it won’t be the last you hear of that)
Over the next couple months, we only did upper body with very little lower body stretching. Very little because she became so paranoid, she believed that stretching was also not good or her.
Do you guys feel bad for me yet? If not, you should…read on.
After a few more months, I could not take it anymore. So, I said, “what is the goal with your legs here??” I was getting frustrated, and they weren’t even my knees! But she was my client….so I quickly got a better attitude.
Since day 1, my client had been complaining about her knees, and we hadn’t even touched her legs yet! So, I said, “is the goal here to just wait around and just let your knees get worse?“ That’s was the only game plan I saw.
After that speech, she finally let me try some things. And that’s what we did.
After one year, her knees felt better. All I did was take it slow and strengthened her knees, quads, and hamstrings, as well as some dynamic stretching – not static. Big, big difference between the two exercise protocols! The dynamic stretching promotes more blood circulation, which is exactly what my client needed.
Well, my client is now 70! Now, the last time I checked, human beings after the age of 50 don’t get better - or can they?
She calls me one Saturday night about 11:30pm crying.
OMG.
“What’s wrong?” I replied. Part of me really didn’t want to know.
She proceeded to tell me that she had been dancing in heels for the past 4 hours without any pain! She has not danced in ten years. I was very happy for her, but more relieved!
My client lunges all the time now. She can even do 405 lb leg presses!
WOW. And she is 70!
That’s two “Role Models of Fitness” created over night….hundreds to go.
Thank god for weight training, food, and the human spirit.
