Senior citizens get fit

GROUP STRETCH:
Senior Fitness at Anderson’s Frontier Senior Center improves strength, balance and endurance for seniors of all abilities.

Twice a week, the Frontier Senior Centers fills with active seniors stretching, lifting weights and doing aerobics to keep themselves fit.

About 40 people attend the Fun with Senior Fitness class on Mondays and Thursdays.

“It improves their balance, their coordination and their stamina,” said Mary Boehme, who has been involved in the program for six years. “We really do have an overall program.”

“I have some people that have been coming the whole six years,” Boehme said.

Faith Taylor has been in the class for more than a year.

“I needed to exercise and socialize,” Taylor said. “I’m retired, so I need things to do and I thought this would be good.”

“It does make you feel better. Sometimes you are tired and think maybe you’ll just stop and sit a minute,” Taylor said. “But if you do the exercises, then you get more energy. The more you do, the better you feel — and the more you can do.”

Not only does the workout class help improve the health of senior citizens, those involved in the class said there’s a social benefit from the exercise program as well.

“I enjoy the ladies in the class,” Marvel Wolf said. “I’m not one to exercise unless I’m around other people, and we have a good time.”

Participants go through a program which includes stretching, balancing, working with resistant dynabands and lifting weights. They also run a 20-minute aerobic tape that is equivalent of walking one mile.

The fitness class exercises target senior citizen’s needs.

Balance exercises help prevent seniors from suffering from a fall.

“They’ll tell us stories where they almost fell down, but they caught themselves,” Boehme said.

Other exercises improve overall heart health, and relieve arthritis.The fitness program is sponsored by the Active Aging Community Task Force. Every six months, participants test themselves to monitor their progress in terms of stamina, flexibility, blood pressure, weight loss and more.

Boehme said one 85-year-old woman has been attending the class for four years. She did 90 steps on a two-minute walk test, beating the average by 20 steps.

“It just shows that she’s built up her stamina,” Boehme said.

The fitness test results are submitted to the Shasta County Public Health Department, which supplies the exercise group, and other groups throughout the county, with equipment for exercising.