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LEARNING OUTCOMES
Define primary aging and secondary aging.
Describe how aging contributes to declines in the body's physiological systems, including the neuromuscular, skeletal, and cardiometabolic systems.
List critical concepts related to physical function and disability with advancing age.
Identify considerations for conducting exercise testing with older individuals.
Explain the acute and chronic effects of exercise in aging individuals.
Describe safe and effective exercise training techniques.
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ANCILLARY LINK
Visit DavisPlus at http://davisplus.fadavis.com for study and practice resources, including online quizzes, animations that help explain physiological processes, podcasts concerning news and career trends in exercise physiology, and practice references.
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VIGNETTE
Danitza, a personal trainer, begins working with a new 67-year-old client named Julie. Danitza is a relatively new trainer whose typical clients have been women in their 30s who want to get back in shape after gaining weight from having children. She has very little experience working with older clients but feels that she is a good trainer and is confident she can adapt her strategies to be successful with Julie.
After 4 weeks of training, Danitza is feeling frustrated with her new client and is unsure of exactly what to do. Julie does not seem motivated to perform her quickpaced training routine, which consists of several supersets of resistance-training exercises interspersed with modified calisthenics and abdominal floor work. This routine is similar to what Danitza has used successfully with many clients, but she has modified it considerably in consideration of Julie's age. However, Julie complains often that many of the exercises hurt her knees or back, and Danitza constantly has to stop to re-teach movements that they have done before because Julie just cannot seem to remember them. Danitza feels that she has modified her exercise routine significantly to accommodate the needs of an older person and begins to think that Julie is simply lazy and whiny. She now dreads having to train Julie and wants to give her up as a client but cannot afford to do so. Danitza is feeling trapped.
How would a better understanding of the needs, interests, and motivations of mature individuals have helped Danitza avoid some of the frustrations she is now feeling? How would a more appropriate training program increase Julie's motivation while simultaneously easing the stress that she reports in her knees and back?
Danitza reaches out to Blair, a more experienced trainer who has served as Danitza's mentor over the years. Blair is also an ACE-certified senior fitness specialist, having completed advanced continuing education in the topic of training this unique population. He agrees to help train Julie for a few sessions in an attempt to alleviate the frustration of everyone involved. Blair quickly notices that Julie has trouble moving up and down from the floor, so he replaced the abdominal floor work that Danitza had introduced with standing balance and core exercises that Julie finds much more comfortable. ...