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Changing up the Routine - Please Help!

Hellawulf

New member
SO this doesn't actually have to do with my routine, but the routine of a client I've been training for quite some time.

He's 54 years old, is 80% blind and comes up to me one day and asks how he can make his butt look better! (I loved it!) I promptly showed him proper squat technique and he hired me right away.

So here's the problem... I felt that he needed to develop core strength. He had pretty nice arms actually, but his shoulders are narrow, his hips are narrow, his chest was underdeveloped and his legs were scrawny... SO I put him on a 5x5 program and I have been just touching the arms to keep them up to par.

SO he calls me today... he says that squats and deads are causing him too much anxiety and he wants to quite them and change up the routine... WHAT!?

He specifically cited "wanted to work the showy muscles more" and replacing squats with leg ext/leg curls... I vehemently object to this.

Some issues I face with him is that he is blind, which causes him to walk with very stiff legs, i.e. he has extremely poor flexibility in his legs, but has been able to develop a decent squat form. Also he cannot prepare his own meals, therefore he goes to a local restaurant. He eats "healthy" in that he eats fairly low carb, but he also eats fairly low fat as well, with his diet mainly consisting of protein and vegetables, but I'm sure his macros are not ideal for seeing any serious changes and he changes his mind every couple weeks as to whether or not he wants to cut or bulk.

I really want to make him feel secure about our program and I'm all for changing up the routine. Considering he has gone from about a 95 pound squat to a 230 pound 5 rep squat in a year, a 115 pound dead, to a 215 dead, and a 135 bench to a 185 bench, the 5x5 did work for him, but he has been starting to stall on all the lifts lately, which is what is causing the insecurity. I am really having trouble busting his plateau.

We went to a push/pull/legs routine not to long ago, but that didn't really seem to help either. I have a feeling he got those initial results because he wasn't in the best of shape to begin with, but now that he has reached maximal results under his current diet, he has plateaued out and will continue to do so unless he changes his diet (but again, he cannot prepare his food himself, so getting accurate counts on calories and macros are damn near impossible...)

Should I give in and try to replace squats? He also HATES lunges... so those aren't in question. Even though deads are personally my favorite lift, I could drop those, but I REALLY do not want to drop squats.
 
Back squats are challenging, but worth it...especially for what results he's seeking.
Maybe hack squats he would compromise with?
 
For the nutrition this guy obviously isnt looking to build as much muscle as he can fit on his frame so a precise diet of calculated macronutrients prob isnt what he needs or suitable for his situation. I'd get him to talk to his carer or whoever makes his meals for him and explain that he's been working out etc and wants to improve his diet. Just give him some guidelines of what to focus on. Diet should be centered around quality sources of protein and veggies w/ more "natural" forms of carbs (rice/potatoes over bread/pasta) esp around his training.

I dont see why you cant let him do a split routine, if that includes an arm day that boosts his confidence and motivation then so be it. For the squats you could phase them in and out, maybe squat every other leg day and just have him go nuts on the leg press the other day. But with that being said I'd reinforce the whole challenge that we all have to do things we dont enjoy doing (eg training legs hard) to get the results we want from the gym, it's your job as a trainer to get a balance that keeps him motivated but keeps him doing enough of the right stuff to get him results.

Make his leg days short and to the point, just a few exercises and trash himself on them. Maybe squats, lying and seated leg curls one day, then stiff leg deads, leg presses and another machine he enjoys (or ideally lunges) on the other day.

^^ thats what I'd do anyway
 
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