Dad has Parkinsons - wants to train once a week... with caveats
Hi all,
In the last couple of years my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He is apparently on a fairly rapid decline but thankfully his is also a doctor (General Practitioner) and has come to the revelation that some strength training will benefit him. He is 58
He is not completely sold on the idea of a full training like with Starting Strength however. Maybe he will come around when he realises the true benefit but for now I will have him drive around to my house once a week to strength train. He also doesn't want to strength train the lower body but wants to do anaerobic exercise on a stationary bike (sprint training). I am happy to take what I have and do this on his terms as last thing I want is for him to not like what I am doing and not do it.
His key identified areas of weakness are:
- Grip strength
- "Upper body" strength
- "Core" strength
I will definitely get him started on the deadlift, as this is the exercise that will give him most benefit. I was also thinking the press, but if he cannot press the bar overhead I will get him started on the bench press.
I would really appreciate people chiming in on this, even if you have absolutely no experience in the matter, or your experience is parkinsons, old people, training once a week, not doing the squat - some guidance around number of sets would be fantastic - I definitely do not want to make him overly sore - thank you very much.
My own experience is I squat 575, bench 315, deadlift 625 at 5'7 165lb so I do feel like I can guide him properly through technique.
