Thank you for viewing my website. I promise to work hard to help your patients if given the opportunity.
WHO I AM AND WHAT I DO
I am an older adult fitness trainer. I help older adults (OAs) improve their fitness and functional abilities. I am the most qualified fitness professional in the Santa Barbara area working with OAs:
- I’ve earned many internationally recognized certifications including several with an OA specialization
- I have an advanced degree in exercise science and a bachelor’s in health studies
- I’ve worked exclusively with OAs for over 15 years
- I’ve sustained a several-decades-long private practice in the Santa Barbara area
YOUR PATIENT REFERRALS
I welcome your referrals, if your patients meet the basic criteria* outlined below:
- Have normal cognitive abilities
- Are able to ambulate without assistive devices**
- Are willing to work with me at least once per week for a minimum of 6 months
- Have reasonable scheduling flexibility
- Are willing & able to use email for scheduling and normal communication
Please Note: I have extensive experience with deconditioned OAs with orthopedic issues, arthritis, osteoporosis and joint replacements. I have much less experience with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s Disease.
MY PRACTICE EMPHASIS
My practice occupies an area somewhat between physical therapy and general-population adult fitness. This emphasis has evolved gradually as I strive to achieve the best outcomes for my OA clients, since so many OAs commonly present with orthopedic challenges, chronic degenerative conditions and movement impairments. Many of the skills, techniques and strategies I use have been learned from physical therapists, a profession I have a HUGE RESPECT for. I continue to actively seek out specialized training from PTs and other experts who work primarily with OAs. For example, I’ve recently completed two specialized courses developed & taught by physical therapists, Modern Management of the Older Adult: Basic Concepts and Modern Management of the Older Adult: Advanced Concepts, from the Institute for Clinical Excellence Physical Therapy; and I’m on track to become Modern Management of the Older Adult-Certified by late summer 2023.
MY OLDER ADULT FITNESS PROGRAMMING & PROCESS
Exercise inconsistency is a very common stumbling block, so to help encourage consistency & compliance, I ask for a minimum commitment of 1x/week for a least 6 months. With the OA population, nothing is a given, so I must be creative & flexible to help my clients. Motor abilities vary, and motor learning occurs at different rates, which means my “program or plan” often has movement/exercise work-arounds done on-the-fly to accommodate my clients. In other words, an OA fitness “program or plan” is a constantly changing dynamic instrument requiring repeated revisions to modify, regress, lateralize and progress.
Safe & effective programing for OA functional fitness always requires a fine-tuned risk/benefit analysis and, in an ideal world, should follow a very individualized approach (see paragraph below). To adequately assess risk & benefit I need to know my clients very well, so I follow a very structured information-gathering process which includes: 1) input & advice from you, the HCP; 2) documenting a new client’s goals/issues/concerns; 3) a thorough health, medical, injury and lifestyle history; 4) a physical/functional assessment. Synthesizing all this client information enables a starting point for designing a trial plan/program; a program which, with OAs, will inevitably need to be changed, modified and gently progressed based on how the client responds and physically adapts.
Walking is a good example of a commonly prescribed & simple OA fitness activity that can be greatly impacted by individual physical limitations. Common limitations that impact walking are: deficits in big toe extension or ankle dorsiflexion; an inability to stabilize the pelvis in the frontal plane; insufficient dynamic balance to adjust to ground irregularities and trip-worthy obstacles (like uplifted sidewalk segments). All of these individual limitations need to be identified and corrected/addressed to create a productive & safe walking experience.
MORE INFORMATION & BUSINESS CARDS
Please contact me if you’d like additional information about my practice, or would like some business cards. I’d like to do everything I can to help you feel comfortable referring your patients to me. I’d really enjoy communicating with you in any manner/method you prefer. Please check out the rest of this website for additional information about me, my practice and my process.
*Covid protection policies are still in place since all my clients are in the high-risk category for Covid-related complications. I will not work with anyone who is unwilling to implement best practices for Covid prevention including vaccines, N-95/KN-95 face coverings and adequate ventilation
**It’s acceptable if your patient uses a cane for safety in certain circumstances, as long as they are able to ambulate successfully without it