By Ben Cox
Photos/Submitted to The Source
Getting fit at any age is a challenge. There’s time. There are usually some costs associated. Then, as we age, our bodies change and sometimes don’t react to workouts and diets as we wish they would.
Fitness World Health Club in Jacksonville has been working with area seniors for over two decades to meet them wherever they are on their fitness journey through the SilverSneakers program.
SilverSneakers is a national program to help seniors 65+ get involved in fitness programs at little to no cost through their insurance or select Medicare plans. Kristie Maro, a SilverSneakers instructor at Fitness World, says she got involved in the program approximately 15 years ago after she received an arthritis diagnosis, “I got certified in arthritic care to be able to help older people or just people with chronic illnesses or disabilities to be able to exercise more, which includes most elderly people.”
She says the classes were approximately 10-15 people around 10 years ago, but now, classes have more than tripled in size. Current classes are between 65-100 people, with one of the oldest attendees being 94 years of age.
Maro says people should come watch a class. Classes are held five days a week and feature different types of workouts. “We have three, like an 89 and 86 and an 88-year-old that come. These are people that work out every single day with weights doing cardio,” Maro says, “I mean, it’s amazing. If you ever have an opportunity to come watch, I highly recommend it. They’re so cool and so motivating.”
Maro says part of the classes aren’t just working out physically. There is a mental and social aspect as well. Part of the social aspect is overcoming stigmas surrounding weight training. She shares that lifting weights doesn’t mean someone will “get bulky.” It strengthens muscles and bones, which is important because bone density decreases rapidly with age.
To help offset that decrease in bone density, they use weight training. Maro adds, “Doing things to fight against [the loss of] bones and muscles basically is what has shown to improve bone density across the board. So, we try to really show [the benefits of weight training] … at least two to three days a week where we do just weights, and then we incorporate cardio and other fun stuff.”
She says overcoming the mental block of people thinking they’re too weak or are going to get big and bulky can sometimes be a challenge. Maro says the way they overcome some of that obstacle is by starting small, “We have everything from two pounds to 15 so they don’t have to take on a heavy weight. They can start out low and our goal is for them to increase their weight as they get stronger and it feels easy, increase it by a little bit. We go up one pound increments all the way up to that 15 so that they don’t have to do a huge bump. They can do a little increase and still feel big results from it.”
Besides weight training, many of the classes take on aerobics to exercise the body’s largest muscle — the heart. The other side of the class is range of motion. Maro says that by keeping people moving and increasing their range of motion with the weekly workouts, they can stay in their homes longer and remain more independent as they age.
Maro calls the workouts “functional movement” because they are based on actions and movements that people do throughout their day-to-day lives, such as getting a milk carton or pitcher of water from the refrigerator.
According to Maro, the other amazing thing about the program is that many seniors do not have to pay to be in the classes. She says it’s all based upon a person’s Medicare supplement, which Fitness World’s Ryne Turke specializes in determining at the front desk.
Maro says that Turke will take people’s information and do the lookup for them to see how to enroll: “It’s amazing how many people don’t even have to pay. Your insurance company then pays us, and it’s part of your benefit. I mean, you’re already paying into it so it doesn’t cost you anything extra.”
She believes that people finding out about the benefit and insurance companies adding it to long-term health insurance plans has given rise to the size of the classes. Maro says exercise leads to longevity, independence, keeps large doctor bills away, offsets effects of chronic illness, strengthens brain activity and helps people find new friends.
“We have a lot of people that come to the classes that have lost a spouse and it’s hard to get out, especially when you’ve been with your spouse for years and years,” Maro says. “So, to come and have a wide variety of people to choose from to walk with and talk with, and are going through the same thing as you, it’s like you’re starting your life all over. The social aspect is so fun to watch people develop new friendships and they go out to lunch together.” Maro shares that one of the groups goes out to lunch together every Friday.
Maro says there is an option for people to come try a class for free to see if it’s right for them. She says men are usually the hardest to sell a class to, but she says once they come and try it out, they usually get hooked and keep coming back. Fitness World Health Club is located at 1521 West Walnut St. in Jacksonville. Maro says people should come out to the location with their insurance information to sign up or see about membership options. For further information, call 217-243-5858.
