I am a new trainer and have a potential client who has Ehlers-Danlos and is hyperflexive. Any advice?
She actually lives about 3 hours away. I offered to help her find a local trainer but she still wants me to guide her. She’s aware of her limitations and has goals of losing about 15 pounds, toning, and improved cardio function. I would love any advice on taking her on as a client and how to effectively and safely work with her.
Hi Cheryl,
this is a challenge for any trainer. Since she lives three hours away, you will probably mainly give her advice on what to do, and she will do it – for the most part – herself which means that there will be no opportunity to observe her unless you were to conduct a sessions through Skype where you can at least see what she is doing.
You need a physician’s approval to work with her. I would also ask her whether she has seen a physical therapist and request copies of the exercises she has done there. Next you need to do an assessment to check where she is as a baseline. This has to be done in person.
Where you go from there depends on the nature and severity of her symptoms. Generally, you should go with low loads and high repetitions. You can search the internet for more advice but will have to go mainly on instinct because Ehlers-Danvos is so different from one person to the other.
I wish you good luck.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
And to add to Karin’s response. Keep all movements in the average range of motion. That is, do not let any exercise exceed what is considered a good/average ROM for that joint. Use dynamic warm up and cool down, not static stretching. And again, keep all movments to the average ROM. I have a list of the standard ROM for each joint on file. I can email it to you if like. You can contact me through my profile or my website www.hawaiifitnessacademy.com.