<p>My PT was a 23yo petite thing who was a state level HS sprinter - completely the opposite of my 5’9" frame who was a HS distance swimmer. I found she listened and adjusted her planned workouts based on my various aches & pains (typically stiff back). There are a few of the younger trainers in my gym that I would not want to work with, but there are a few that appear to push their middle-aged clients to an appropriate level as needed. What I have observed is some of the younger trainers don’t know when to back off when their older clients are clearly past their limits. Last fall I stepped in when I say an older woman (60+) was white as a sheet and ready to pass out and the trainer was telling her to keep going.</p>
<p>my husband shares with his friend the two together split a 75 dollar fee . they go once a week. i am going to start as i am recovering form an illness and need the guidance to do it safely.</p>
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<p>I had one workout with an “in-house” corporate trainer some years ago. I just did it for an evaluation and my conclusion was that I wasn’t in any hurry to have someone else tell me how hard to work out. I can say with some confidence that many of these young people who were very good athletes have no idea what they are doing with the great unwashed average person who is in late middle age.</p>
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<p>Multiply the cluelessness several-fold when it comes to middle-age fat loss. In fairness, the whole package is simply outside of their experience and very few trainers stay abreast of the best practices. But, mostly, they probably just don’t understand the challenges of fitness programs for older folks.</p>
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<p>I brush my own teeth, etc. Every 6 months the hygienist teaches me (again) how to floss, but she doesn’t come to my house every day and do it for me.</p>
<p>Of course a personal trainer can evaluate you, set up a program, teach you how yo do all the exercises safely, monitor your progress every month or so. But for myself, even if it was free, I wouldn’t want someone there one-on-one during every exercise session.</p>
<p>My wife specializes in recovery from and avoidance of injury but being 5"3" and 100 lbs keeps most men training to look good on the beach from hiring her. She has a client list that includes women over 60 and elderly men recovering from injury. The main portion of her clients exist of orthodox Jewish women. Not only from a business pov but from a personal situation it has been wonderful. She has met so many people she would have never interacted with and has developed a great admiration and fondness for “her girls”. She really cares about them and they can sense that. They also care deeply about her. To be honest I do not think I have ever seen her happier.
For sorghum- my wife is happy to do as many sessions as someone would like but she really wants to build a foundation so they can proceed on their own and be successful.</p>
<p>Since muscle weighs more than fat- 100 lbs is underweight for someone 5’3".
Is she really 5’3"? ;)</p>
<p>She has chronic illnesses that effect her. She is underweight.</p>
<p>Sorghum–I get that you don’t want to use a trainer, but why the dismissive attitude toward those of us who have had great success with trainers? BTW, I go to the gym 6 days a week and meet my trainer there–usually 2x a week. I do lots of things for myself and prefer to do so, but I’d never put someone down who choses to get help with a particular endeavor. I get the help of professionals when I need it or don’t have the time to do something on my own. Most trainers are perfectly happy to set up a program for a client to work on his/her own.</p>
<p>She has chronic illnesses that effect her. She is underweight.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that. I was just wondering because I used to think I was 5’3" too, except I was actually more like 5’2" ish & that was only if I stood up * really* straight!</p>
<p>EK- she may be 5’2"" but she was once 5"4". When she ran track and played field hockey in college she was about 115/120 but her legs were very muscular.</p>
<p>We are so old she was of the generation where for certain sports she was on the boys team. She beat every boy in the 60 yard dash except one so the boys insisted they start a girls winter track team. Girls were not allowed to run more than a mile.</p>