How to Train A 98-Year-Old PT client

Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!A 98-year-old walks into your gym. Do you panic and reach for a stability ball, or do you coach what actually keeps them independent?We take you inside a real coaching moment from our Show Up Fitness class and lay out how we think about program design for older adults and senior fitness. The big shift is simple but powerful: stop collecting exercises and start coaching movement patterns. We talk through what we look for the moment a client arrives, how we “assess” without forcing uncomfortable screens, and how we choose squat, hinge, push, pull, carry, and transitional work that maps directly to activities of daily living (ADLs) like standing up from a couch or getting off the toilet.From there, we get practical. How do you build a safe 30-minute personal training session that still drives results? We share examples like supported squats, bar presses or machine presses for stable loading, light medicine ball throws for power and fun, and balance games that make clients light up and come back. We also cover progressions, regressions, and why a grounded goblet squat is often smarter than unstable “functional” gadgets for fall-prone clients.Recovery is a make-or-break variable at this age, so we dig into volume, frequency, soreness management, and nutrition for older adults, including a clear protein target to support muscle building despite sarcopenia and dynopenia. We finish with the coaching mindset that keeps people safe: plan for worst-case scenarios, keep the space clean, and earn the right to progress.If you train seniors (or you want to), subscribe, share this with a trainer friend, and leave a review so more coaches learn to program with confidence. What’s the hardest part about training older clients for you?Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!Want to ask us a question?  Email [email protected] with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqANASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com