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I started my Mom on SS 10 weeks ago. She is 68 and has arthritic knees. The SS program has made a big difference in her life and we are very excited. She has gone from body weight squats to 55 pounds now. However, knee pain prevents her from reaching full depth. My question is: Do we keep increasing the weight or wait until she can reach the correct depth? I am concerned that adding weight without proper depth will be hard on her knees. She is leaning forward out of balance and trying to get the bar lower without bending her knees.
I would recommend losing the bar and having her squat to a box. I would bet that knee pain is not the limiting factor here, but strength is. It is likely that she will have trouble standing up from a below parallel box, so find the height to which she can squat for three sets of five. Lower the box until she is below parallel. Then start adding weight. Take the box away once she can consistently go below parallel. She will want to sit down on the box instead of keeping her weight in her feet. She will need to be cued to fight this tendency.
Been hearing and reading a lot in the media lately about the possible links between statin drug usage and muscle soreness and muscle tears. Even the Lipitor website has some info on it about this possible danger. About two weeks ago, this was all over the news and that was the first I had ever heard about it. Wanted to relate to everyone on the board who either takes statins or trains those that do that I can attest to this side effect first hand.
It would behoove everybody taking statins on the advice/insistence of their GP due to a slightly elevated serum cholesterol to do their own homework and carefully weigh the costs/benefits of this usually unnecessary prophylaxis.
Putting someone on anti-cholesterolemic drugs after one test that shows a marginally above normal result is wrong. A series of tests separated by weeks is required to truly establish the presence of hypercholesterolemia. When hypercholesterolemia is authentic then diet and exercise behavior modification should be the first prescription. If those turn out to be ineffective over a period of a few months, then prescription therapy should then be considered.
I am always amazed at the number of clients I get through my doors who are in their thirties, forties, and fifties that have been prescribed statins, blood pressure meds, anti -depressants, etc as a first step in the treatment process. It is very sad that a large part of the medical community has become nothing more than glorified drug peddlers.
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