Senior Fitness Describe the effect of exercise on blood sugar levels. How will this effect your exercise recommendations for both insulin dependent and non-dependent clients food intake?

Exercise certainly helps to monitor and assure healthy blood sugar levels. It can help to decrease current glucose levels in the blood as well as burning stored blood sugar, which is a leading factor in helping individuals lose weight. Moreover, exercise can increase muscle mass and cardiovascular endurance. The addition of muscle can further help in regulating blood sugar levels and glucose usage during exercise sessions.

When making recommendations for exercise schedules for clients with diabetes and other insulin related disorders, I would certainly begin with a solid examination of the individual's specific background. While I would certainly be interested to know about any potential problems even with non-diabetic clients, I would like to know about the severity and specificity of the diabetic individual's medical history. With this knowledge I would proceed to create a customized workout plan. Being that insulin is a key regulator of glucose and the body needs increased amounts of glucose during workouts, most diabetics struggle with heightened levels of strenuous exercise. Therefore, I would be diligent in monitoring the heart rate of such clients, while also garnering feedback from them very regularly during the workout. The most likely outcome would be that the workout routines for persons with diabetes or other insulin related disorders would be much less intense than those for non-dependent clients.

16) Define rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. What are the primary concerns for you as a trainer when training an arthritic client?

Rheumatoid arthritis is a relatively common disease causing inflammation of the joints, tissue around the joints and occasionally other organs throughout the body. This disorder is classified as an autoimmune disorder, whereby one's own immune system triggers its onset. This disease has been shown to be a major predictor of heart attacks (especially in women). In fact, it has been shown that the risk of heart attack for women with rheumatoid arthritis is twice that of a normal woman.

Osteoarthritis is a disorder that progressively erodes the joints to the point where bony spurs and cysts are created at the margins of joints. This disease causes the diminishment of cartilage in an individual's joints and can cause extreme limitations in joint movement.

Once again, the ultimate creation of a specific exercise program would depend on the individual. By assessing the severity of the illness, I would create a customized program to work around the specific limitation of the disorder. However, being that almost all forms of arthritis cause exercise to become highly painful, there are several generic considerations that must be made in all cases. As a result of the pain experience from exercise, many arthritic patients choose inactivity. Though as a trainer, I would concern myself with increasing their joint mobility and improving the functional capacities of the client's joints to hopefully reduce pain. In doing so, I would utilize non-weight-bearing exercises, because weight-bearing activities typically causes pain and discomfort in arthritic patients.

17) What are the muscles that make up the rotator cuff? List the mechanisms for rotator cuff injury and contraindicated movements.

The rotator cuff is comprised of four muscles. This group of muscles amalgamates at the shoulder to form a strong level of protection for this vital joint. The four muscles are referred to as the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis.

When one or multiple muscles in the rotator cuff become torn (a common injury during the elderly period), there are several exercises and contraindicated movements that can exacerbate the injury. Many "press" and "pull" movements are often not recommended when a client has suffered a rotator cuff tear. These mechanisms include: military press, bench press, pull-ups, pull-downs, inclines and declines. Additionally, any exercise where heavy strain is placed on the shoulder is not recommended.

18) List the Spectrum of hearing impairments. Discuss tips and considerations for communicating with the hearing impaired individual?

Hearing impairments regularly affect the elderly. Most types of hearing loss occur progressively, whereby it becomes harder and harder to verbally communicate with the individual. While other forms of hearing impairment can strike quickly and hearing can be lost forever. The true spectrum of potential hearing disorders ranges from deafness to periodic hearing disturbances. Nevertheless there are numerous possibilities found within this arena. Such potential outcomes include the following: deafness (including Sensorineural deafness and Nerve deafness), hearing loss, Conductive...

Especially in a training environment where there is a potential for injury, it is highly essential for me to develop an effective means of communicating with my clients prior to workouts. I would probably sit down and discuss some type of workable system for communicating before I begin training a client with a hearing impairment. I would probably focus on maintaining a close proximity to the individual, ensuring that I am always facing them when I am communicating, speaking slowly, clearly and concisely.
19) Name three individual sports activities what would be appropriate for a visually impaired client. Explain your reasoning for each activity you recommend.

One sporting activity I would certainly recommend for visually impaired clients is golf. While numerous programs exist for blind golfers around the globe, I believe that this would be an ideal sporting endeavor for visually impaired individuals. Being that visually impaired persons are often put off by the hustle and bustle of many contact and team sports, I think the tranquil features of golf would certainly be a welcomed experience. By not having to respond to the yelling and hitting and shouting and fast movements that accompany many other sports, visual impaired individuals could embrace golf while enjoying the outdoors and the company of trusted guiding individuals.

Another sporting activity I would recommend is swimming. This sport is unquestionably capable of providing a visually impaired person (any person for that matter) with a world-class workout. Additionally, little aid would be necessary once the individual is capable of gauging the parameters of the pool. Therefore, this type of activity could also provide these individuals with a sense of independence that they do not often experience in their day-to-day lives.

Yet another newly created sport is called Goalball. This is a team sport played and created exclusively for the visually impaired. The object of the game is to roll a ball, which contains bells past the opposing team. There are two teams of 3 players, which alternate rolling and defending. The offensive team rolls the ball in a manner that is either hard or soft, depending upon player style, in an attempt to get the ball past the opposing three players. The defensive team listens for the approach of the ball and attempts to prevent or block the ball from crossing the line. The ball is rolled back and forth with the offensive and defensive team alternating until time expires for the half (Therapeutic Recreation, 2011). This can increase a visually impaired individual's sense of camaraderie, while also engaging in cardiovascular exercise.

20) Summarize the phases of a strength and Endurance Program as outlined in the senior Fitness Text. How do the recommendations for older adults differ from those you would use with a healthy, young adult?

The text outlines three distinct phases of a typical and effective strength program. The first phase (known as "The Knowledge is Power" phase) primarily consists of educating the client before engaging in actual workouts. Using lighter weights and progressively increasing repetitions, much of the time should be taken teaching perfect form. The second phase (known as "Train Don't Strain Concepts") continues with the educational nature of phase one, whereby the trainer is now attempting to teach the client to differentiate between good and bad muscle pain as the intensity of workouts increases. This phase also focuses quite a bit on breathing patterns and synergistic approaches to exercise routines. Finally, the third phase (known as "Forever: Going Strong Keep it Up!") focuses on the intensification and individualization of workouts to meet the specific needs of the client. This phase also initiates a greater degree of variety in workouts to ensure continuous progress. While all of the above concepts are extremely useful for young adults as well, the primary difference in strength programs for elders and youngster in this case lies in the number of repetitions completed, the amount of weights used and the intensity.

The text also outlines some helpful tools regarding cardiovascular endurance for the elderly. One of the primary programs recommended for these individuals includes arm crank ergometry. This is typically used for individuals with lower body disabilities and has been shown to greatly improve physiological responses. Another endurance recommendation is lower body ergometry. This type of cycling activity is very helpful in developing cardiovascular endurance and building leg strength. Also, incorporating alternative forms of cardiovascular exercise like walking, swimming and low-impact aerobics, into one's regiment has also been shown to produce endurance…