Seniors Group Strength & Fitness Exercise Training
Heading into the later years of your life can be an exciting time. Retirement is on the cards, you may have been blessed with grandchildren or you may want to hit the road and explore what this beautiful country has to offer. It can, however, be a time where fear can creep into your life. You may be on numerous medications for different conditions, struggling with aches and pains, or feel isolated because you no longer have the confidence in your body to participate in social activities such as golf or even walking. You may worry about what the future holds and if you'll be well enough to simply enjoy life. Family, friends and the media often tell us that aches, pains and increasing amounts of medications are a 'normal' part of getting older. I am here to tell you that it NOT normal and you CAN thrive in your older years.
It Starts With Having A Good Plan
You just need a good plan based on proven methods and techniques that are helping hundreds of people in their late 70's do everything they want do in life. This is what our Stronger For Longer Group Training program is all about and we can show you proof of real clients who train with us today doing incredible activities and exercises without fear and limitation. Watch the video of Laurie Ford a client of ours who is 80 years old this year who still sails in competitive races like the Melbourne to Hobart Yacht race each year and can hold his own in the gym with people 20-30 years younger! It is not luck that makes Laurie like this it is from adopting simple exercise and nutrition fundamentals that are specific to his needs.
Why Do I Need Strength Training?
This is a very misunderstood topic and unfortunately the Fitness industry does not do a good job of implementing this. Most trainers and gyms will treat older adults like they are already disabled and put them on a machine type of program that allows the person to sit down and pull or push weights while being perfectly stable and supported. While this appears to be keeping the person safe, it actually is training your body to become worse and set your body up for falls or losing the ability to move correctly outside of the gym! Because although you are now adding muscle, you are also teaching your body to no longer need stabilizers, or skills like co-ordination and agility to be switched on, before you try to move something heavy! A bit like a crane not supported to the ground trying to lift a heavy object. Functional exercises are designed to restore balance, lengthen, strengthen, and coordinate movement patterns specific to how you move! The human brain does not think in terms of isolated muscles. Instead, it recruits groups of muscles in uniquely programmed sequences. A well designed conditioning program must therefore be designed to integrate the whole body. There has been many studies that have demonstrated the capability of people as old as 100 years to build muscle through resistance training. Yet even with all of these studies being completed, many people still think that older adults are incapable of regaining muscle and strength. And as mentioned earlier some still think that lifting weights is dangerous! I am here to tell you it is not dangerous if you are taught the correct way to do it.
Below is a video explaining how to use exercise to enhance daily movements for seniors.
What is quite interesting is that it is also what older adults want. We rarely get a 75 year old saying “I want ripped abs”. It is usually “I want to be able to walk up the stairs without having pain in my hip or feeling like I am going to fall over”. Basically our older clients ALL want to be able to do what they want without fear, limitation or pain. That is, they want function and only a well designed Functional Strength Training method program in combination with nutrition and lifestyle components can achieve this. The loss of muscle mass with advancing age, which is called Sarcopenia, is an important factor to address because it can have a dramatic impact on functional capacity. Click here to read our article explaining what Sarcopenia is and exactly how to prevent it. Other great articles to read that provide more detail on our program are below.
Balance Training & Preventing Falls
Can Exercise Slow The Aging Process
What Is The Best Exercises For Seniors
How To Reverse Arthritis Symptoms & Improve Overall Bone Density
When & Where Are The Classes Held?
The classes will run for 60 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday at 10am in our private studio 10 / 18-20 Redland Drive Mitcham.
If you would like to request a Free Consultation where we can discuss your goals in more detail and also provide you with a postural and movement assessment click the image below.
We also understand that beginning your journey to better health can be scary and overwhelming. To help put your mind at ease, we'd like to offer you a FREE special report 'Stay Stronger For Longer - Learn The 6 Secrets About How To Exercise For Older Adults & Live Life To The Fullest''
It will give you more information about us, how we operate and how we can help you. It's our special gift... just for you! No strings attached.
The Danger Of Falls - The Leading Cause Of Injury Deaths Among Older Adults
Hip fractures are the number one cause of nursing home admission. Here is a scary statistic. Approximately 50% of those who suffer a hip fracture never fully regain their mobility and independence and 50% of those die within the first year. Falling for an older adult is a very serious matter, and a life threatening situation. The good news is it can be easily prevented and I will show you exactly how in our program.
Falling caused 31% unintentional injury deaths in 1999, and are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma ( 1.6 million treatments, 370,000 hospitalized).
There are many reasons for people losing their ability to maintain optimal stability and balance. We like to term this the “Use it or lose it” theory. This means that they begin to lose abilities and senses due to not using them as much. As we have already discussed, the loss of muscle is a significant contributor here, because as you sense the loss in strength and begin to avoid activities, you now begin to lose skills and other abilities such as balance, agility and co-ordination. Functional strength and balance go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. A slowing of neural conduction speed only really matters because the body’s reflex movement is potentially a slower response time for the initiation of muscular movement. That may put someone at risk of injury when put in a situation of danger. A classic example is in the case of a trip or a slip. When this occurs a very rapid response must occur so that the individual can adjust their center of gravity, step forward, grab a stationary object, turn or just put their body into a safer position to brace for the fall. A slowed response can make the difference between an injury or life-threatening incident and a “gee that was close” situation that leaves you believing you were lucky. What I will show to you here is that it was not luck that saved you, but your ability to move correctly in tune with your nervous system and musculoskeletal system from training it for this day! It is not luck at all!
Lift For Life
Our new added program to compliment Stronger For Longer is our Lift For Life program. This is a government initiative to help combat the epidemic of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and in particular type 2 diabetes that threaten the health of so many people, especially older adults. People are not aware of the importance of adding muscle not just for the added benefits we have just discussed for bone density, preventing sarcopenia and falls, but the role that muscle plays in blood glucose regulation and hormone control. The older you are, or the more unhealthy you are, the more important it is to add muscle, reduce stress and clean up your nutrition. Chronic disease can be prevented and also well managed without medication by using simple methods we teach in Lift For Life training. We recommend using Lift For Life as one on one individual sessions to work on your specific issues and weaknesses, both physical and lifestyle before progressing to the Stronger For Longer group class where you can work mainly on your physical skills.
As you can see we are really serious about helping Older Adults and making sure they have the right environment with the best quality equipment but most importantly highly skilled and qualified trainers and coaches who understand your limitations, fears, and what it takes for older adults to build great health. The days of putting old people on machines or telling them to go for a walk are over, there is a better way to train and you should be shown how to achieve it.
So what are you waiting for fill in the form below and I will get in touch with you within 24 hours and get you on the road to the best health of your life.