=>Moving =>Mom

Time Session Began:  1800 Duration of Session:  1hr 20 min
Exercise	Reps	Sets	Comments
ISL	15 + 5	2	Worked on getting weights higher; pushing elbows back; good improvement.
KI	15 + 5	2	Noticeable improvement; she kicked higher of her own accord. Right leg is improving significantly.
LU	15 + 5	2	Still breaks right wrist a little when coming to rest at shoulder.
KNI	15 + 5	2	Excellent!
FO1	15 + 5	2	Worked on keeping elbows in.
SDS	20	1	Continuing to alternate legs, doing both legs at same time. Told me, today, that she gets tired in her shins on this one.
FO2	15 + 5	2	Still drops right hand at wrist a little, but not the left, anymore.
TDS	20 + 5	2	Excellent!
F2S	10 + 5 + 5	3	Yesterday did 4 sets of 5; today did 3 sets with 10 in first set. She's holding her arms straight throughout the exercise without prompting, today! Hooray!
SSS	15 + 5 (L) 10 + 5 + 5 (R)	2/3	Lifting when stepping is still hard for her, especially on the right. Broke the right into 3 sets, as noted above.
AC	10 + 5	2	Arms are straightening; she admitted to a problem with the right arm.
MIP	20 + 5	2	Left knee lags in lift, but she's getting better.
FC	15 + 5	2	Explained philosophy behind gripping weight and not relaxing muscles at the drop; showed her, with my muscles, what she was doing, how the muscles look (or, rather, don't look) and what she should be doing and how the muscles should look through the skin, how her muscles should be contracted throughout the entire exercise, and gripping the weight helps one to do this.
SDST	20 + 5	2	Noticed her balance shift was a little ungainly; checked the position of the chairs; that's not it. So, I figure it's just her. Didn't call her on it, yet.
IACR	10 + 5	2	A little trouble with sweeping across her body, today.
TDST	15 + 5	2	Good!
IACL	10 + 5	2	See IACL - left and right arms sequentially; will probably continue this instead of splitting the arms' performances, from now on.
STS	5 + 2	2	She was game for this one again, today. Noticed she's not turning head and shoulders with body. Coached her verbally and with my demonstration on this, but will work on it next time.
SSST	5 + 5 + 5 + 5	4	Isolated the movements for her as, the primary movement being the lifting of the leg with the thigh, the secondary movement being swinging the lifted leg to the side. She's lifting her calf at the knee; I told her, no, lift from the thigh and the calf with follow, you won't have to use your knee at all.
BD	15 + 5	2	Excellent! Picked up weights correctly without being prompted and held arms straight up in the air! She said, "I felt that one, today!"
NSGP	5	1	Said she "felt it" in the back of her right knee. I told her, "Good, as long as it's not pain, then that's the area you need strengthening." Coached her on body stance, keeping buttocks and lower abdomen in and tight, holding torso absolutely erect when going down and coming up.

    Truthfully, today, I didn't think we were going to get an exercise session in. But, when she awoke from her nap she seemed very rested and alert, I suggested a session about a half hour later and she agreed, much to my surprise, although she also reminded me that she walkered today and, "is a session really necessary?"
    No, I said, it isn't, "but why don't we just take it exercise by exercise and when you get tired, we'll stop?"
    She agreed.
    As it turns out, we went through the whole program. I even mentioned, halfway through, "Isn't it funny how, when you think you don't want to move, once you start moving, you realize that's what you want to do?"
    She smiled brightly, "I was just thinking that same thing!"
    Today her endurance showed remarkable improvement. She didn't need to sit between each standing exercise.
    I decided, today, to explain to her why, when we began, I didn't spend any time on correction but now I spend a lot of time correcting her. I told her that, frankly, when we began, I wasn't sure how capable she'd be of correction, whether her 87 year old body would be "willing" to take correction, whether it was even capable of correct movement anymore. I was very frank with her about this. I told her that it is a revelation to me to attend her at these exercise sessions because, aside from me exercising, too, I am, every day, literally, every single day, surprised and heartened how much one can expect from an aged body, and, as well, an aged body that hasn't been very mobile for a long, long time. I apologized for my previously low expectations, as well, and told her I would try hard not to lower my expectations of her unless I give it a lot of thought, discuss lowering expectations with her and think, first, of alternative ways to accomplish the same goal.
    "So," I said, "I'm trying hard to make sure I get both corrective feedback and congratulatory feedback in. Remember, it's a good thing that I'm correcting you, not just because you'll get more out of the exercises, but because that means I think you can do it. Start to worry when I no longer correct you!"
    She understood.