Barry Bassin

 Certified Fitness Professional

 Senior Fitness Personal Trainer

 Founder, Make it So Adult Fitness

 

Ginny Saumier-Sugita

 Certified Fitness Professional

 Senior Fitness Personal Trainer

 

I created Make it So Adult Fitness in 2021 after Fitness 19 Long Beach, where I had been head trainer since 2015, closed. It is a unique 1-on-1 personal training studio focused entirely on physical fitness as an integral part of the good health continuum for seniors and older adults.

 

All exercises are good so long as they adhere to the principles of proper spinal alignment and joint integrity, and they don’t cause pain. Muscle soreness after a productive exercise session is normal and is temporary. Pain while doing an exercise is not normal and means that either the exercise is causing damage or an already damaged joint or tendon is being made worse. A poorly designed exercise program too often results in muscle imbalances as well, which may cause poor posture, uneven wear on joints and vertebrae, and localized muscle pain.

 

Assuming that an exercise program is safe doesn’t mean that it's effective; will it actually deliver the results promised? Is it exercise for the sake of exercise, or is it part of a science-based program that doctors want you to do to manage age-related muscle loss called sarcopenia?

 

Too many exercise instructors use terms like “torch body fat,” “incinerate calories,” “tone and sculpt your body,” “firm upper arms and get rid of batwings,” etc. In the world of real fitness training those terms and others are usually nothing more than undeliverable hyperbole; it’s just not what happens.

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It is popular to say that we’re all different, which is false when it comes to health and fitness. What is true is that we’re not all the same. Example: Sarcopenia marks the beginning of age-related loss of muscle mass and a corresponding loss of strength. The condition begins in one’s 30s and gradually progresses until around age 70. The manifestations of sarcopenia are more profound with some people than others. In the extreme, sarcopenia leads to diminished balance with an increased risk of injury from falls, frailty, and an eventual loss of independence.

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Progressive resistance training (PRT) is the anecdote to sarcopenia. “Progressive” means challenging your muscles with a workload that is somewhat hard but is do-able. Do-able means you’re able to complete 10 repetitions but not more.  After several sessions you’ll be stronger and able to complete more than 10 repetitions at which point you either slightly increase the number of repetitions or slightly increase the amount of resistance. Following this kind of progression scheme builds muscle, increases strength and is important for preserving physical independence.

 

At the same time that sarcopenia is progressing people are also getting progressively older, meaning that comorbidities (concurrent conditions), are also occurring or worsening. These range from relatively benign conditions easily controlled by medications (hypertension, etc.), through different degrees of arthritis, tendonitis, and back pain. More serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis may also be present. 

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At Make it So we are certified specialists, designing exercise programs that address sarcopenia via progressive resistance training (PRT), which is the most effective and doctor-preferred protocol for treating the condition. We design these programs for each client individually while factoring in existing comorbidities that must be addressed in ways that will improve, or at least not further aggravate them. Cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all programs do not do these things.

Similarly, group strength training programs always help the least fit people most, and as individual participants begin responding to a program’s exercises it is hard to manage progressions, meaning its hard to improve beyond initial success, which will be limited. The net effect is that you will quickly hit a plateau and not improve further; as a senior or an older adult, an effective strength training program works for you as the calendar starts working against you; don’t let the calendar win!

 

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

You can wish it so or you can make it so.

 

Make it So Adult Fitness