Many of our Trainers are finding their older clients complaining of joint pain, especially in their feet. You may remember from the IFPA Book On Personal Training, “what you don’t use, you lose.” This is certainly true for the stability of joints that are not being exercised on a regular basis.

According to a 2018 Survey conducted by the American Pediatric Medical Association (APMA) 75% of people surveyed had some pain issues with their feet.

To my knowledge, no Personal Trainers are meeting the needs of these clients. This is a tremendous opportunity for each of you. I am going to provide you with an Exercise Prescription and Program Design to meet this need.

Exercise Prescriptions and Program Design

Your Exercise Prescriptions must err on the conservative side for now. If it has been a while since your clients have exercised, start slow, and build slowly. Getting people to do something is infinitely better than people doing nothing.

If your clients have some exercise equipment in their homes, great, use what they have available. If your clients do not have exercise equipment available, no worries, get them started with calisthenic exercises.

Even when they present with joint pain, you will still need gentle movements for their entire body, in order to get them healthy again. Teach your clients simple calisthenic exercises and the variations needed that will be appropriate for their current condition.

If they can do some aerobic exercise, pick a type that will be comfortable for them.

Walking is a good starting point with a low impact. The feet land with 1.1-1.4 g's. Jogging is a much higher impact of 4.4 g's. Running, of course, is an even higher impact with a foot landing of 7.7g's. Depending on the pain threshold, even walking may be painful. In a gym, you have an excellent variety of bikes. The Recumbent Bike is the most gentle on the feet, for your Personal Training Clients experiencing joint discomfort. The Recumbent Bike not only takes the stress off the feet and somewhat the knees, but it is also very gentle on the back.

The solution for a client that cannot walk without pain, or a client that does not have access to a swimming pool, will require some creativity.

Strength, Flexibility, and Cardiovascular Training

For the Warm-up select low-intensity movements, with little or no impact such as:

Arm circles Chair squats Crunches Hip Circles For the Strength Training portion of your Program Design, incorporate low-intensity exercises with low to no impact such as:

Push-ups: choose a variation that meets your client’s fitness level Supermans: choose a variation that meets your client’s fitness level Squats: Bodyweight only, or Band/something available in their home Leg Curls: Preferably on a Stability Ball Hip Thrusts Heel Raises: Assisted if painful (use furniture for support) Toe Raises: Use Bands or household implements for resistance Shoulder Presses: Use Bands or household implements for resistance Bicep Curls: Use Bands or household implements for resistance Triceps Extensions: Use Bands or household implements for resistance Shrugs: Use Bands or household implements for resistance Crunches For the Flexibility Training portion, include the same exercises you studied in The Book on Personal Training with emphasis on the feet, then add the following exercises:

Big Toe Circles: Have your client make as big a circle as they can with their Big Toe, first clockwise for 15-20 Reps, then counterclockwise for 15-20 Reps, both feet Write the Alphabet: Have your client Write the Alphabet with their Big toe. First the Capital Letters, then the small letters, both feet. Marble Pickup: Have your client pick up an object using just their toes and then place the object in a bowl that is within easy range of your client’s foot. This exercise works with any small object such as small balls, sponges, or pebbles. Make sure to review all your IFPA Rules for safe and effective stretching.

_©June 2022