Sherry Ballou Hanson
Sherry Ballou Hanson
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Helping the Full Range of Older Clients
By Sherry Ballou Hanson
When new senior clients come to you for physical training, you initially don't know how active they have been since graduating from high school. How much of their leisure time have they devoted to hiking, biking, playing golf, or swimming regularly at the YMCA? And how much of their time have they spent watching TV or, more recently, playing on the internet?
Your senior clients will be everywhere along that continuum. Some will be very fit; others will be sedentary. Many will have chronic conditions like arthritis and diabetes. All can benefit from your services.
Seniors are the fastest-growing population of Americans in the market for personal training (Kavadlo 2011). Moreover, as a group they have the financial resources to pay for our expertise: 75% of the income and wealth in the U.S belongs to the Baby Boomers, and 10,000 Americans are ?turning 65 every day (FAI 2015).
Clearly, our profession has ample motivation to attract older clients. Yet that does not automatically mean they will stay motivated to work with us. To keep them fit, we have to see things from their point of view.
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