This is how to help your senior parents stay strong, healthy, and pain-free
More than 20 years ago, John Mayer once sang that all of our parents are getting older, wondering if they’ve wished for anything better. I didn’t think much about that line then as a 12-year-old with relatively healthy parents in their 40s, but now that they’re in their mid-60s, I always worry about how they’re keeping on with their physical decline.
Trainer and fitness content creator Navneeth Ramprasad felt the same way, which is why he made the effort to persuade his senior parents to start lifting weights for a year, just to see what would happen to their health and bodies.
His parents initially had reservations about the idea of strength training relatively late in their lives, saying that it was “for young people,” and that walking with a little bit of running would be enough for them. Ramprasad didn’t settle for that and had them start doing light lifts, dispelling the notion that they would have to do more advanced and heavier lifts that young people would tend to do. (Of course, if that’s more up your alley, there’s certainly nothing wrong with lifting heavy—just make sure you’re not hurting yourself out there.)
Ramprasad focused on light lifts that were also functional, strengthening muscles for everyday movements such as going up and down the stairs, picking up heavy items, and even just getting up and walking around pain-free in the parts that usually hurt. His programs involve the tried-and-tested basics: squats, push-ups, curls, and walks, all adjusted to what older adults can manage.
He had his parents work out for a year (“forced,” in his words), and the results they claimed were amazing. Ramprasad and his parents have claimed that the strength training has “changed their life”: his father’s blood sugar dropped by 30 points, his mother’s knee pain went away without having to get surgery or taking any more painkillers, and they report looking much younger and “full of life.”
Ramprasad doesn’t just remind them to lift; as a trainer worth his salt, he also fixes their nutrition. This one’s easier for most people to do than working out, but it will still take some convincing especially when there are necessary dietary restrictions to be made. He says that parents will “need some parenting” when it comes to their nutrition and diet; he managed to beat back the diabetes in his father with some food changes along with the strength training, which studies have pointed to as a useful tool in managing blood sugar levels in diabetic adults.
With nearly half a million followers on Instagram of his senior-focused fitness and health content, Ramprasad’s following is essentially a testament that we’re all looking for ways to help our parents (or any other elder loved ones) make the most out of their retirement years with as little pain and discomfort as possible. He himself seems singularly focused on giving his parents a good quality of life, taking everyone interested along the way.
His family-centric branding would also be a huge hit among close-knit and tradition-loving Filipinos, if it isn’t already—the only thing left to do is to show your folks his content and see if they’re willing to try and do a few workouts, if they’re physically able to exercise. It may just be the key to spending less on hospital visits and maintenance meds, which Filipinos have long had a hard time buying.
