Knee sleeve and leg press advice for Mom

[thras]

Hey Rip,

I'll apologize off the bat that this one is a two-fer.

Question #1

I have some runner's knee, and lift wearing Stoic 7mm knee sleeves. My mother was in town this week, and saw me wearing them for my workout, and she wanted to know if she could get something like that for her knees. She's recently had a total knee replacement, is a candidate for a total knee replacement in the other knee, and wears knee wraps to get her through the day -- she still works full time and spends a lot of time on her feet.

I don't want to recommend 7mm neoprene to her. I can wear them for a two hour workout, no problem, but I feel like they are a bit much to wear all day. Any idea what I should I tell her?

Question #2

My mother has decided to put off the second knee replacement indefinitely (she had the worst one done already). Now that PT is over, she has told me that she and dad are planning to restart resistance training at home sometime in the next few weeks. I offered -- strenuously -- to get her back in touch with a local SSC who she had worked with a little before the knee surgery, but she is pretty independent and wants to put that off until she's stronger. I assume that she'll be using a leg press machine to get started, although she was very curious and interested in seeing me do box squats at 305x5x2. I told her that they were harder, not easier than normal squats, and showed her your video on them.

My plan is to recommend to her to do the "Method 1: The Leg Press" program from pg. 217 of the Barbell Prescription. It recommends there to start at "a light weight" and increase 10-20lbs per session, going to sufficient depth. She's 63, overweight, and very strong and determined to overdo things. I was going to tell her to start with the empty sled and add 20lbs a session "until it feels like work," and then switch to 10lbs increases. Does that sound reasonable? Would you recommend something different?

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. Neoprene is not designed to be worn all day. Fabric knee sleeves are available. Get a couple of different types and see which she prefers.

2. That's my recommendation. But she can start heavier than an empty sled. It would be best if you were there to help determine the first day's load.

[thras]

Thank you!