Help toning with muscle problems.

[John M]

Okay well this isnt really about me, its about my dad, hes a 46 year old male and has tons of physical health problems and I really want to help him out to loose weight. Hes about 5'7 198 pounds, and he has shoulder, back, neck and leg problems, he told me its because of cartilige missing in one of the disks in his spine and it pinches on the nerve causing pain in his neck back and legs. And what ive been telling him( im not sure if this is true or not) to lose the weight by running, or riding a bike and get more muscle to support his back. He says it hurts him to run, ride a bike or do any kind of exercises.. And this is really difficult for me I hate to see my father dead, I mean he has all kinds of health problems with his heart like high pulse, he has to take pills every morning for it.
Now would you guys reccomend any kind of exercise routine for him that wouldnt hurt? Or should I tell him to take aleve for his pain and tone anyway? I really want something that would help his heart out and reduce some of the pain he experiences, I mean he doesnt even sleep good at night. He sees a massage therapist and a doctor for it but alls they do is prescribe medicine and massage him to temporarily relive pain and I thinks thats a load of crap.

Please help me out, I really want my dad to be healthy and live a long life.

Thanks a TON if you help me out!

~John M

Edit- Oops I just realized this is the womens forum, well Its not particulary based on weightlifting or running so I figured it go in here.

 

[theleip]

Okay well sadly i don't think anyone here will be able to tell you what to do as being he takes medicine and has problems he should really pass things by a doctor first to make sure its okay.

However what would be good is to go with him and ask the doctor some questions about what he can do.

Is it okay for him to do low intensity cardio and if so how long/how often?
Is it okay for him to do any weight training and if so how much/how often?
Does he have any special diet needs?
Ask the doctor if an evening streching routine is okay.
Ask him to figure out his maximum heart rate and what a good level of heart rate he should be having when doing any activity.

I wanted to do the same thing for my father but i had to check with a doctor first, and thankfully he got the thumbs up for a low cardio, mild strength train, tons of streching and a clean diet. He has since lost alot of back and knee pain and it makes me so happy for him. If you find out he is given the okay then head on back and ask away with your specifications. Then you can run all that by the doc and if he gives thumbs up then your good to go. The reason you should be cautious is that exercise/moderate to heavy activity can be very dangerous even fatal if done wrong past a certain age.

 

[Trainer Lynn]

He needs to want to do it and he needs to speak and work with professionals. The goal here is his health and it needs to be closely monitored by doctors and fitness pro's and possible dietitians.