Personal Training For Seniors – Example Program In The UAE

Even if you haven’t exercised for a while, a professional personal trainer in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah who is experience in senior fitness programs can help you get and stay fit. So what’s involved in a senior fitness personal training program? Read on to find out more.
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senior Fitness Personal Training - Is It Right For You?

Article Contributor: Admin

Personal training for seniors in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the rest of the UAE is increasing in popularity.

Many seniors appreciate that taking regular exercise, whether that is by using a senior fitness training specialist or simply taking an exercise class can really help improve their fitness levels, help them stay more mobile and general improve their quality of life.

As well as staying fit and healthy looking good also plays a part in why many seniors want to stay in great shape.
As a senior, if you are interested in finding out how a specific personal training program for seniors might work this article provides some excellent tips and advice.

Table Of Contents

What is a senior fitness personal training program in the UAE?

 

There are plenty of options throughout the UAE when it comes to fitness and many of these options are directly targeted towards men and women who are older.

Being older shouldn’t present a problem for most seniors when it comes to fitness, however, it should be stressed that the type of exercise and intensity of exercise you do might need to change.

This is why a senior fitness personal trainer in your local area can be of great help.

Yes you can get fit yourself by watching online videos or even just taking moderate daily exercise but if you have a specific training goal then a fully qualified PT might be the best option for you. They will create a customised fitness plan based on your body type, your goals, your nutrition requirement and more.

What’s more a coach will ensure you train correctly which can reduce your risk of injury.

Professional fitness coaches know that senior and elderly fitness is a specialist area. If you do decide to train with a personal trainer make sure they have the experience and qualifications you need to get the best results from every training session.

How a senior personal training and nutrition program is assessed

 

If you’ve decided that personal training at home or at the gym in the UAE is the right choice for you you’re probably wondering what a senior fitness personal training program might look like.

Of course everyone is different with very different needs so the information below is purely an example of what to expect.

Having a clear and concise understanding of your goals, your likes and dislikes when it comes to exercise, your nutrition intake and of course your lifestyle is paramount to a male or female personal trainer. With that information to hand the assessment can start.

Above everything else, during your assessment be honest with your trainer. If you are overweight and have a tendency to snack at night let them know. If you hate the thought or doing sit-ups let them know. The more information they have the more likely your fitness coaching program is likely to succeed.

As we all know, the older we get the more health issues start to occur and the more fragile we are to the environment that’s why the first step in creating any personal training program is assessing your current health and fitness level.

 

What’s included as part of your personal fitness coaching assessment?

 

For most professional coaches the fitness assessment will be performed in two parts.

The first part of the initial assessment is made by filling in a basic questionnaire about your health and fitness, whether you have any issues or limiting injuries, illnesses and more.

The second part is a detailed assessment based on measurements and performance in different fitness based tests. These often include:

 

  • Firstly, all your basic body measurements will be taken. This includes: weight, height, body fat percentage, waist, shoulder, chest, arm, hip, thigh, neck circumference. These measurements will serve as a baseline for improvement.

  • Secondly and more important than the first is the flexibility test. This is standard regardless of age but it is crucial to be done when the trainer is working with seniors. We already know that osteoporosis is very common among seniors and it can be an obstacle that needs to be overcome.

  • The third test is the cardio-vascular endurance test. Also very important to do when working with older individuals, the older we get the more sedentary we become thus the weaker the heart gets. And having a weak heart combined with atherosclerosis is a very dangerous combo. And both diseases are commonly present in elders. The cardio-vascular test will be performed by either walking on a treadmill or going on a mile long walk.

  • The final test is the strength test. This is commonly done with weights in younger folks, but when it comes to seniors and depending on their fitness level this can also be performed with light body weight exercises such as a half push-up exercise.

 

What types of exercise might you be doing as part of a senior or elderly fitness training program in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah?

 

The types of exercise you will be doing as part of your fitness coaching program does differ from person to person because as mentioned, we all have different body types and goals when it comes to fitness and lifestyle.


Example workouts are found below:

 

Cardio-vascular training

Probably the most important type of training on the list is cardio training. The heart is a major organ responsible for pumping blood to all your organs and muscles. Since the heart is a muscle and its primary purpose is to pump blood, a good idea would be to train it and make it more efficient, wouldn’t it?

The more sedentary you become in the UAE, the less activity you have in your life, the more your heart becomes weaker.
Some of the symptoms of a weakened heart include:

  • Breathlessness

  • swelling of the legs, ankles and feet

  • overall fatigue and lethargy

  • irregular heartbeats

  • dizziness and light-headedness

 

Many of these problems creep up on us as we age so to avoid all of these, you should start doing more cardiovascular activities which bump up your heart rate and with that train it.

A good way to do this is by simply going on a walk, jog, rope jumping, kickboxing, swimming for fitness and basically every activity that involves muscle activation for a prolonged period of time.

According to a study found here cardio training in seniors and the elderly helped to improved heart health among other benefits. Cardio training doesn’t mean you have to slog it out on a treadmill for hours at a time either.

Lower intensity cardio workouts can easily be done over a period of a few weeks. Even in this short time you will notice improvements in your fitness levels, your ability to walk further, climb the stairs or even jog for short distances.

 

Flexibility training

Have you noticed that as you get older you tend to get general aches and pains? The body feels stiff and somewhat weaker when you get out of bed in the morning.

Flexibility is something that deteriorates as we get older. All the joints and ligaments get limited blood supply and become stiff and also the bones weaken as well.

Stretching is the best way to increase and even reverse some of the lost flexibility.


How does stretching exercise work? When we stretch we flush out intra-articular fluid and replenish it with new, also we deplete the surrounding muscles of blood which is then replenished with fresh oxygenated blood.

This creates an increase in body temperature in the surrounding area, making it ready to perform. When doing this long term the muscles and ligaments in the stretched area become more loose and therefore increase the flexibility and reduce the injury risk.

The stretching exercises should start out gently because going in too strong would cause injury which can put you back several days or even weeks.

As the tendons and ligaments become looser you will find that you are able to stretch more and eventually the aches and pains will start to becomes less and less obvious.

A personal trainer local to you will show you how to stretch correctly with proper posture and use a wide range of motion to ensure all muscles, ligaments and joints are flexible.

Stretching should be done as often as 3 times a day: pre workout (to warm up the joints), during workout (to let more blood into the area) and post workout (to get rid of the excess lactic acid).

This study found here does show that one of the major benefits of stretching, flexibility and functional exercises for seniors and the elderly can help improve and maintain mobility as we age – something we all want to do.

 

Strength training

Strength training in elderly individuals can be done in many ways. Most commonly using dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands, cable machines and body weight exercise.

The type of exercise that a senior might be doing is really dependent on their fitness level.

A lifelong marathon runner and a relatively sedentary senior cannot be doing the same exercises.

A good starting point for many is to start out with basic resistance band exercises and machine work and then progress with actual dumbbells and barbells (as they require more stronger core muscles and overall impact all the joints).

According to a study found here strength training for seniors helped maintain, and even increase muscle mass which can of course help with mobility. 

Benefits of exercise for the elderly in the UAE

What kinds of exercise might you be doing in your senior fitness personal training program?

 

Generally, as a senior the kinds of exercise you can do are not that different from adults of any age. Of course the intensity of the workouts you do and the duration might be different depending on your fitness level before hiring a personal trainer.

Age shouldn’t be a barrier to either getting fit or staying in shape. Your personal fitness coach will decide on what types of workouts are most suited to you.

Here are some exercise examples, which seniors might be doing. Keep in mind all of these are not recommended for everyone, you need to first be assessed by your personal trainer before doing any of them.

 

Muscle Toning Exercises

 

  1. Back Muscles – Vertical pulling movements: lat pull down machine (wide, medium, narrow bar grip)
    Horizontal pulling movements: Rowing machine, cable rows, Barbell rows and dumbbells rows.

  2. Chest Muscles – Cable flys, peck-deck machine, dumbbell and barbell pressing.

  3. Shoulders – Side delts: lateral raises: machine with cables, dumbbells
    Front delts: front cable raise, shoulder press machine
    Back delts: reverse lateral raise: with cables or dumbbells.

  4. Arms – Biceps: Dumbbell curl, Barbell curl, concentration curl, cable curl, preacher curl
    Triceps: Rope pushdown, bar pushdown, V-bar pushdown, skull crushers (regular, behind head), triceps extensions (rope/cable, dumbbells).

  5. Legs – Machine squats, leg press, Leg extensions, Leg curls, barbell squat.

 

Cardio Exercises

 

  1. Swimming – swimming is a low impact form of exercise making it ideal for seniors with flexibility or mobility problems. Many swimming coaches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah can provide swimming for fitness lessons, water aerobics and more. What’s more, swimming classes provide a social aspect too.

  2. Walking – walking provides many health and fitness benefits and is great for general cardio fitness. One thing to consider in the UAE is the heat during the day so if you walk for exercise it’s best to do so in the early morning or later in the evening.

  3. Aerobics – Aerobics classes are ideal for cardio fitness for seniors. Most of the time these classes are created with seniors and the elderly in mind so there’s no need to be concerned that the classes might be too fast for you.

Why and how would your senior fitness program might change from time to time

 

As with everything in life, there needs to be a progression in something in order for it to be effective and work. That is also the case with doing any kind of exercise.

How the plan may change on a week to week basis is really dependent again on your personal situation.

If someone just got off the couch and started running that wouldn’t be ideal. Instead the smart thing to do is to start out by just implementing a couple of walking sessions throughout the week.

Then as weeks go by start increasing the sessions and start implementing other sort of training on top of that, let’s say flexibility training.


Then as times goes on, start getting into strength training while already doing the training from before.

Eventually, you will be able to do all the training at once and as frequently as you can. The key here is consistency and effort.

In Summary.....

There are many ways a personal training program for seniors in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah can help. Follow the tips below for the best results.

Find A Senior Fitness In Your Area

Finding the best PT in your area of the UAE for senior and elderly fitness coaching is easy with the UAE Personal Trainers Website.

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Each personal trainer profile page includes a quick contact form. You can contact the coach direct and they will get back to you as soon as possible.

Use the filter options on the page below to closely match your training goals with the right coach and even select to show male, female or all personal trainers. 

The price for personal training in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and RAK can be found on the personal trainer profile page. Each coach has their own price information and training fees. When you contact a PT they will provide full details about price, discounts and promotions. 

All personal trainers listed on the UAE Personal Trainers website will provide a free fitness consultation to get a better understanding of your health and fitness goals. 

Freelance personal trainers and fitness companies provide PT at home, your gym, outdoors. Online personal training is also an option for many coaches and their clients.