From my Perspective -

I now have taught 13 years of fitness and wellness programs for seniors. All were in person until March, 2020 when we took 3 weeks off for COVID to calm down and my crew began hounding me for online classes, which I am still teaching 3X per week.

My eldest participant lived 2 weeks past his 99th birthday, another past her 98th, and I currently have a very spunky 95 year old who is my “most likely to surpass 100.” Most of my Zoom participants are 75-90. And I’m in my 6th year of teaching weekly at three lower income senior living locations in Boulder, Colorado. Before Covid I was also teaching numerous aqua fitness classes for any and all ages but primarily attended by seniors at local recreation centers.

I’ll skip all of my trainings, credentials and certifications, you can see that in my online Bio. I have a science-thinking brain and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health/ major: Health Physics from Purdue University. I think in science and listen to my intuition, always looking for answers and root causes that can make progress more readily available. At some point in my years of teaching I realized I am not interested in teaching classes week after week while participants continue to decline or are completely plateaued. I am passionate about teaching a class in a way that opens up significant improvement for the participants, that improves their understanding of how their body works, or what it needs, and how they can improve their quality of life. I want to see the progress and share in their delight as they experience more strength, better balance, and being more capable of enjoying their lives.

But often the progress is painfully slow. It tests my fortitude to stay in the game of teaching fitness classes., so I started trying to identify their barriers to improvement, which could also be stated as precursors to progress. And I’ve found this:

There are 4 broad categories.

1. Nutrition. The most basic ones being high quality protein sources and hydration, supported by electrolytes.

2. Gear. Primarily, shoes that fit and provide the support needed, often corrective, and they need to be able to get their shoes on AND TIED. Could also be a sun hat, sunscreen, warm coat.

3. Coaching & Reminders. Many folks don’t have any family checking in on them. They are alone in the world. Many don’t have an emergency contact to put on a liability waiver form. They need reminders for many things such as to go to bed each night, to make a doctor’s appointment, and to GO TO the doctor’s appointment, ASK the important questions at the doctor’s appointment, to take a walk outside, breathe fresh air, or to tell them they did a good job on something. Many need support with diet choices that fit their particular diagnoses or medical conditions.

4. Personal growth work. This can come in many different forms. I teach tools that de-stress current situations and their historic experiences which has been very helpful for some. I have also recommended therapy. So many participants believe that their health and well-being are a one-way road to misery, and having them believe anything else requires some input that opens up different beliefs and new understanding.

If I could wave a magic wand, these four components would be available to each and every individual over age 50 and prior to coming to exercise and fitness classes. Each of these can be expanded to be more comprehensive, or less. and I’ve found that all four are necessary for true progress. I’ll dive deeper in subsequent posts. I would like to do a study of 50 people making a commitment to improving their health using these four precursors plus exercise/fitness programming. I believe the result would be significant improvements to longevity, reduction in turnover in senior living facilities, and lower medical costs for individuals and insurance providers.