Need some help for my dad

[AliTheDrugDealer]

I'm trying to figure out how to get my dad on the road to better health, and who better to ask than my fellow nerds!

 

Background: My dad was a painter for 30+ years and a firefighter for about 15 years.  He lost his job at the fire dept about 9 years ago, and wasn't able to switch back over to painting full time.  So he's sorta been unemployed/taking care of his mom ever since.

 

He's in pretty bad shape physically.  He smokes, he's at least 100 lbs overweight, he has bad knees and bad feet.  It's been okay, but he's been falling lately.  The last time he fell was about a week ago.  He hurt his knee pretty bad and bruised a rib with his crutch. 

 

The problem is, he has a lot of problems walking.  He can't walk for more than five minutes at a stretch because of his feet.  He has to have something supporting his weight, hence the crutch. 

 

Do you guys have any suggestions I can pass on for how to get him moving again, at least a little bit?  Any kind of exercises he can do that won't harm his knees or feet?

 

(Also, he does have an exercise bike.  Would that be the best route for now?)

 

TIA!

[sylph]

Does he WANT to change? That's more important than anything you can do.

[AliTheDrugDealer]

I think he does.  I don't live with him, so I don't know what his day-to-day routine is.  He's mentioned to me several times after he's fallen that he really needs to do something. 

 

I'm not looking to overhaul his diet or anything like that.  He'll have to do that.  I'm really just looking for some suggestions I can give him next time he brings it up. 

[Disil]

Alright, this might come across infomercial-y, but I can absolutely relate, both in terms of parents I worry about as well as improving health without hurting/stressing joints etc. so hear me out.

 

DDPYOGA. It's "low impact", there's a ton of modifications to make stuff easier or harder, it's a great cardio-workout, but also has roots in calisthenics and physiotherapy and obviously yoga. It can also be done at home with the only requirements being some space, a tv/pc to play the DVDs and a yoga mat.

 

Here's what got me motivated to change my life and subsequently into that DDPYOGA thing:

 

And here's the respective thread from these forums where I talk about it in detail.