Old Obese Client - Get Back Set

[GioFerrante]

Hi there,

I got a 60 yo female obese client who has never lifted before. We're starting out with bodyweight pause squats to a 16 inch box and rack pulls just below the knee with an empty bar. Can't manage more than that just yet. Previous knee injury has us starting at 50 lbs on a seated leg press to start and try to build strength for a full squat. That's for sets of 10. Can probably handle more weight than that but not without knee aching quite yet. Having trouble finding a way to get her to set her back and brace properly on the squats and pulls. Obviously can't have her lay down in a superman position to burn the motor pattern in that way. Do you have any advice for helping this kind of client set their back and brace correctly while we try to get her in shape enough to pull from floor and squat without a box for assistance? Thanks

[Maybach]

It's important to know if she has a problem bracing during the lift, or if she is incapable of actually volitionally engaging those muscles. I would hazard it's probably the former? The superman drill is for people who literally don't know what it means when you say "extend the back." If that's the problem, something I've found works is putting your hand just above the tailbone (similar to the "hip drive" cue for the squat" position) and telling them to "push" your hand up. Play around and find what gets her to do the right movement ("puff your chest up" or "lift your butt" or "tilt your hips" are all things that sometimes work. People who can't do this perceive the first time they do that deliberately in idiosyncratic ways)

If she can do this, and is just having trouble doing it during the lift, you can touch the erectors lightly either throughout the rep or between reps. If she knows what to do, and is just having trouble doing it, I wouldn't worry about it too much until you've progressed to the full lifts: the technique is going to change each time, and it's more important she focus on getting through the unfamiliar range of motion than that she execute it with perfect form, since all that work is going to be undone as the bar or box is lowered. Just keep reminding her until she gets the full lifts, and at that point the weight will start helping out a little bit with the reminding.

[GioFerrante]

Thanks for the tips. Will give them a try. And it's that she has no idea how to voluntarily contract the back muscles. Trying to get creative with learning that positioning while we work our way up to the full lifts.

[Mark Rippetoe]

We usually use the Superman position for this, but if she can't do it you're going to have to be creative.