When the Hiawatha Davis Jr. Recreation Center started its SilverSneakers fitness program for senior citizens a few weeks ago, it expected about 30 people to show up. “On the first day, we got 64,” said David Hallman, supervisor. “We underestimated the response we would get. People love this program.”
The center is now offering four morning classes a week, which have 56 enthusiastic participants, some toting canisters of oxygen or rolling into the gym in wheelchairs.
As these folks demonstrate, age and infirmity are no excuse to be inactive, and with the expanded free or low-cost offerings at gyms and public rec centers, there’s little reason not to get in shape.
Gray-haired members are also muscling the younger gymgoers for time on the equipment at private clubs.
Older adults and seniors account for 23 percent of total memberships, and people over 55 represent 28 percent of all frequent attendees, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association trend report from 2002. American Sports Data Inc., a research firm in Hartsdale, N.Y., reports that the number of people 55 or older who exercise more than 100 days per year increased 33 percent from 1998 to 2004, compared with no growth in the 18-to-34 age bracket. Those over age 55 purchased one-fourth of all club memberships nationwide, making them the fastest-growing segment for health club memberships.
Boomers wise up
The spike in exercise is the result of a combination of things. First, baby boomers are paying attention to news about how exercise can be a bulwark against heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression and even some cancers. Second, physicians have changed their tune about strenuous exercise for older people and helped shift social mores along the way. Older women, once told that weightlifting was bad for them, are now pumping iron with a vengeance; men and women who were once told to take it easy and just play golf are now training for triathlons.
Carole Kort learned the value of becoming active five years ago, at age 68. The office manager and medical assistant for Geriatric and Family Medicine in Lakewood, Kort weighed 254 pounds and was taking three prescription medications for her high blood pressure. Her boss, Dr. Paul J. Fishman, challenged her to lose 100 pounds in one year, promising to reward her with a vacation to New York. Today, the retired Marine and professional baseball player is 114 pounds lighter and off all prescription medications. She credits Weight Watchers with helping her stick to a diet, and regular exercise, with the turnaround.
“Every morning at 4:30 a.m., I put on my pedometer and walk the treadmill for 30 minutes before I head off to work, where I complete my 10,000 daily steps running back and forth between patients,” Kort said. At age 73, she sets an example for all the geriatric patients that come into the clinic. And, yes, she did take the trip to New York.
Fishman said that sticking with a plan is the key to weight loss and a lifestyle change. “The real reward of staying consistent and persistent is that you get to do the things you want to do instead of wasting your time in the doctor’s office or in the hospital,” Fishman said. “Never give up.”
Insurance companies, ever-watchful eye of the bottom line, have seen the value of investing in fitness programs for seniors. Research conducted by the Institute for the Study of Aging found that health-care costs of SilverSneakers members during the first year of program participation were on average $441 lower than for nonparticipants.
And when the classes are free, as they are in SilverSneakers programs offered through Medicare health plans and such carriers as Kaiser Permanente and Humana, there’s even more incentive for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance.
Research dating to the 1970s found that people who do not challenge their muscles through strength training (lifting weights, using weight machines or working with resistance bands) lose 5 to 7 pounds of muscle every decade. This loss not only reduces the metabolic rate (by 2 to 5 percent per decade) but also sets us up for overall weakness that can lead to frailty and loss of independence.
In 1996, fitness researcher Wayne Westcott conducted an eight-week study with 1,100 participants ages 21 to 80 who did 25 minutes of endurance exercise for the cardiovascular system and 25 minutes of strength exercise for the muscular system, two to three times per week.
He found little difference between the age groups when it came to measuring improvements in body composition and blood pressure, especially when it came to blood pressure. Seniors with hypertension made the most improvement with many going from three points above the hypertensive levels to three points below those levels after only eight weeks.
It has been proven through decades of research that exercise reduces body fat, increases bone mineral density, improves glucose utilization, increases height, improves posture and balance, reduces constipation, reduces resting blood pressure, improves cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reduces low back pain and arthritic pain, and reduces depression.
Aging gracefully
Daily exercise can mean the difference between aging gracefully or aging abruptly. Elisabeth Armengol, 73, a retired executive secretary, started exercising in 2004 when she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Three months into her thrice-weekly “Sit, Stand, and Be Fit” class at the Aurora Center for Active Adults (formerly the Aurora Senior Center), she was off medication. “One year after starting, I had the best glucose reading ever,” she said, “and I dropped two dress sizes!”
Aurora is on the right track with the recently completed renovation and expansion of its senior center. It added a 3,600-square-foot weight and cardio room prominently at the front of the building, as well as a new emphasis on health and wellness.
Participants are happy to give testimonials.
At age 68 and retired from the military and from Storage Tek, Frank Lepus was an avid runner whose knees can no longer handle the pounding that jogging gave them. “I do the cardiovascular machines at the center instead,” Lepus said. “That and the strength training have kept my blood- pressure and cholesterol medication stable.” He also goes to the center for the camaraderie and the competitive group dynamic of the class. “The staff is helpful. I can ask questions and get answers,” he said.
Marianne Davis, 58, a retired United Airlines flight attendant, decided that she did not want to work out with 30-year-olds, so she takes a Total Fit class three days a week and strength training twice a week.
She’s enjoyed the benefits: “My flexibility and strength improved, and the aches and pains disappeared.”
FOUR PATHS TO FITNESS
The National Institutes of Health recommends four types of exercises:
1. Strength training
Building muscle increases metabolism, which helps keep your weight and blood sugar in check.
How to begin:
Proper form is very important. It is a good idea to take a class.
Lift weights at least twice a week.
Start with lighter weights and increase resistance gradually.
The goal is to lift the heaviest weight you can for eight repetitions.
2. Balance exercises
These exercises build leg muscles and improve proprioception, which helps prevent falls. Falling is often the cause of hip fractures, as many as 300,000 a year (many of them among seniors), according to the NIH.
How to begin:
Hold onto a sturdy table or chair and alternate standing on one foot, then the other.
Gradually challenge yourself by holding on with just fingers, then fingertips.
The goal is to be able to stand steadily on one foot without holding on and smoothly switch to balancing on the other foot.
3. Stretching exercises
These can give you more freedom of movement, which will allow you to be more active in general.
How to begin:
Always warm up the muscles first with a short walk or light calisthenics.
Stop at once if you feel any pain.
Always move into a stretch slowly, not with bouncing movements.
The goal is to increase range of motion for the joints so that reaching, sitting, standing and twisting can be done with more ease.
4. Endurance exercises
Involve any activity, walking, jogging, swimming, biking, gardening, dancing – that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time.
How to begin:
If you have been inactive for a long time, build up your endurance gradually, starting with as little as 5 minutes at a time.
Add more exercise time gradually; do little sessions throughout the day instead of trying to do it all at once.
Try to do a little endurance activity every day.
The goal is to be able to perform 30 minutes of endurance exercise nonstop.
RESOURCES
Hiawatha Davis, Jr. Recreation Center, 3334 Holly St.; 303-331-4037
Aurora Center for Active Adults, 30 Del Mar Circle, Aurora, 303-739-7950
The SilverSneakers Fitness Program; 9280 S. Kyrene Road, Suite 134; Tempe, AZ 85284; 888-423-4632;
American Association of Retired Persons; 888-687-2277;
National Institute on Aging Information Center, P.O. Box 8057, Gaithersburg, MD 20898; 800-222-4225;
“From Fat to Fit” by Carole Carson, (Hound Press, 2007, $14.95)
Linda J. Buch is a certified fitness trainer in Denver and co-author of “The Commercial Break Workout.” Write her at linda@LJbalance.com
