This page contains information about me, my practice & my training process, as well as information to help decide if your patients would be suitable referrals to my practice. Thanks for visiting my website!

WHO I AM AND WHAT I DO

I’m a highly qualified fitness trainer who specializes in helping older adults (OAs) improve their fitness and functional abilities. My core philosophy is to optimize & individualize all effective mitigation strategies to counter the negative physical effects of aging. I’m the most qualified fitness professional in the Santa Barbara area working with OAs when considering education/training, specialized certifications & experience. I work with my clients in their homes and most are aged 60 to 90; many have common orthopedic challenges/limitations. More about me & my practice just below with footnote explanations at bottom:

• I’ve earned (and keep current) internationally recognized certifications from the NSCA like the CSCS¹
• I’ve earned four different specialized Older Adult Fitness certifications²
• I’ve earned an advanced degree in exercise science and a bachelor’s in health studies
• I’ve worked exclusively with OAs for 20 years
• I have extensive experience improving the physical function of deconditioned OAs with orthopedic challenges like joint replacements, rotator cuff repairs, osteoarthritis, sarcopenia & osteoporosis
• I’ve sustained a successful full-time, several-decades-long private practice in the Santa Barbara area

YOUR REFERRALS

It’s quite common for potential client’s relatives to contact me when it’s (unfortunately) too late to help their loved ones, so I encourage you to advocate for & facilitate a fitness forward lifestyle with your OA patients.

I welcome referrals if your patients can meet the basic requirements outlined below. The requirements are essential to match my skills with the most appropriate individuals³ and to have a smooth-running practice. Prospective client basic requirements are:

• Have normal cognitive abilities³
• Are able to ambulate without assistive devices⁴
• Will work with me at least once per week for a minimum of 6 months⁵
• Have scheduling flexibility
• Are willing & able to use email for scheduling and normal communication
• Will wear a proper fitting N-95/KN-95 mask to help prevent respiratory viral transmission⁶

Please note: I have no experience with neurodegenerative movement disorders like Parkinson’s Disease

MY PRACTICE EMPHASIS

My area of specialization occupies a space between physical therapy and general-population adult fitness. This practice emphasis has evolved as I strive to achieve the best outcomes for my OA clients, since the majority present with orthopedic challenges, chronic degenerative conditions and sub-optimal movement abilities, so different methods are required for OAs compared to other adult cohorts who don’t have these considerations. Many of the skills/techniques/strategies I use (and my mind-set) are influenced by physical therapists, a profession I have huge respect for. I continue to actively seek out specialized training from PTs and others who work primarily with OAs. For example, in 2023, I earned the Modern Management of the Older Adult Certification (MMOA-Cert), a certification which is developed & taught by physical therapists for physical therapists. Indeed, I was the very first fitness trainer (non-PT, PTA or OT) to earn the MMOA-Cert!

MY OLDER ADULT FITNESS PROGRAMMING

Safe & effective programing to optimize for OA functional fitness always requires a fine-tuned risk/benefit analysis and should follow a very individualized approach. Addressing individual considerations makes a big difference toward positive outcomes as OAs are the most physically heterogeneous adult cohort, which means OAs benefit the least from a less personalized or general approach (see 2nd paragraph below). To adequately assess risk & benefit I need to know my client’s individual characteristics very well, so I follow a detailed & 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 new client information enables an informed starting point for designing an individualized plan/program and its implementation; a program which, with OAs, will inevitably need to be changed, modified and gently progressed/regressed based on how each individual client responds and physically adapts to the conditioning process.

Walking is an example of an OA physical activity commonly encouraged by HCPs which is seemingly basic & fool-proof, but can be greatly impacted by individual physical considerations or limitations like deficits in big toe extension or ankle dorsiflexion; or an inability to stabilize the pelvis in the frontal plane; or insufficient dynamic balance to adjust to ground irregularities and trip-worthy obstacles like uplifted sidewalk segments. Identifying and subsequently correcting these limitations (and others) will help create the most productive & safe walking experience for OAs and facilitate a fitness-forward lifestyle.

MORE INFORMATION, QUESTIONS & BUSINESS CARDS

Please contact me if you’d like additional information or some business cards. I want to do everything I can to help you feel comfortable referring your patients to me.

Footnotes:
¹ “CSCS” designates Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and “NSCA” is the National Strength & Conditioning Association. The CSCS certification is the current industry standard for fitness training & conditioning regardless of specialization. If you are considering referring your patients to a fitness trainer who has not earned the CSCS, you might ask yourself why and dig a little deeper into their professional qualifications (or lack there-of)
² Modern Management of the Older Adult from the Institute of Clinical Excellence PT; 2) Functional Aging Specialist from the Functional Aging Institute; 3) Senior Fitness Specialist from the National Academy of Sports Medicine; 4) SrFit Mature Fitness from the American Academy of Health & Fitness
³ If your patients don’t have normal cognitive abilities or can’t ambulate without assistive devices, then a physical or occupational therapist would seem the best & most appropriate professional to help them based on training & scope of practice considerations
⁴ It’s acceptable to me if your patient uses a cane for safety & security in certain circumstances, as long as they are actually able to ambulate successfully without assistive devices
⁵ Exercise inconsistency (lack of compliance) is one of the most common stumbling blocks for improving OA’s functional fitness, so to help facilitate positive outcomes I insist on a bare minimum commitment of 1x/week for a least six (6) months before I’ll take on a new client to my practice
⁶ All of my clients are in the high-risk category for respiratory viral illness complications. Of equal importance, OAs need to optimize for physical function, and emerging research seems to indicate that the functional decline of aging is not a steady gradual loss over time, but likely follows a more step-wise regressive pattern due to a series of so-called “disuse events” which are mediated by illnesses (commonly viral respiratory), falls, surgeries, etc. So, I do all I can to prevent these disuse events and optimize my client’s positive outcomes, including wearing face coverings during training sessions