It’s early on a Thursday morning, and 67-year-old Tess Blake has worked up a sweat before most people half her age have even had their first cup of coffee.
Blake is one of about 15 senior citizens who regularly take part in a strength training class designed to prevent osteoporosis at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center in Santa Maria.
“We get a lot out of it as far as energy, even though we’re tired afterwards,” she said. “But you notice the longer you’re in the class, the stronger you’re getting. It’s really good for our stamina.”
Blake, who suffers from asthma, has taken part in the class since last October. She used to play disc golf, but wasn’t getting the aerobic exercise she needed. Now she does.
“It’s low impact, so we’re building up these tendons,” she said. “It’s just a great thing.”
The one-hour classes consist of a cardio workout followed by weight-bearing and stretching exercises. They’re designed to curb bone loss by increasing muscle strength and prevent falls by improving balance. Best of all, they’re completely free for seniors, thanks to funding from Marian’s Osteoporosis Center and the Area Agency on Aging.
Class Instructor Kathy Pierce, a physical therapist at Marian, has taught the class since last July. As people age, Pierce explained, they naturally lose muscle and bone. The resistance training she teaches is one way to build it back up.
“We focus on good form, so people don’t get injured,” Pierce said. “It’s probably more of a challenge than they might be used to. I really like to see how people push themselves, in a safe way.”
According to Pierce, attendees see the benefits of sticking with the program over time, experiencing fewer aches and pains in their daily lives.
“They come to the class, and it carries over to them doing more exercises or just being more active outside of the class,” she said. “Preventing injuries allows you to be more active, too. They learn to exercise correctly so they don’t hurt themselves.”
Class participant Peggy Clayton said she became aware of the effectiveness of the exercises in recuperating from a broken tibia.
“It’s helped me as post-physical therapy. It’s been really nice for me to get my muscles built up,” Clayton said. “I know there’s others who have had replacements and different problems with their joints and they’ve commented it’s strengthening after the fact.”
The program has been so successful, the Senior Center plans on adding more strength-training classes. Senior Center coordinator Maria Navarro said up to 50 percent of illnesses in the elderly are due to inactivity. Even a little low-impact exercise can increase longevity and help improve physical maladies in the aged, she explained.
“Going through a routine of walking can prevent Type-II Diabetes. It strengthens the heart and is good for the brain and bones,” she said. “It’s incredible. Something as simple as walking can eliminate a lot of the health issues that we have from being stationary.”
At first, Navarro said, some seniors are reluctant to join an exercise program, thinking it’s beyond what they’re capable of.
“I know a lot of people, when they get older, maybe don’t have much family and kind of give up when they don’t have a lot in their lives,” she said. “I think it’s important to get them to be motivated and want to be somewhere.”
Navarro’s goal is to offer programs to local seniors enabling them to remain active. The Center has a free fitness lab for those 50 and older, swimming for those older than 65, and a class in laughter yoga. Navarro is also planning on instituting a walking club and will soon be installing Nintendo’s Wii Fit for seniors 50 and older to use.
The Wii Fit Tournament and other classes are made possible through the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. According to Tara Boucher of the city’s People For Leisure and Youth (P.L.A.Y.), Santa Maria’s sizable senior base is greatly in need of cheap programs to help them stay in shape.
“With the economy the way it is, oftentimes programs are cut,” she said. “You don’t really want to cut things that are actually benefiting people’s health. We’ve been successful at keeping them low cost.”
Marian Medical Center also offers various healthy senior programs it runs through the Recreation and Parks department. Sandy Underwood, Marian’s senior community benefit coordinator, said the hospital has a vested interest in keeping seniors in the community fit and active.
“It’s better to have preventative health care than it is to wait until you get to the stage where you have to go to the emergency room because you don’t know what’s wrong with you,“ Underwood said. “We have a huge amount of activities going on and trying to reduce emergency room visits by doing more preventative care.”
Across town, Orcutt’s Luis Oasis Senior Center offers a variety of free programs for active adults to help improve their range of motion and keep joints fluid, including arthritis exercises, and yoga and pilates classes.
Senior Center Director Moani Goonetilleke said the upside of the classes go beyond the obvious physical improvements.
“The seniors tell me there’s a social benefit to them,” she said. “They make friends in these classes, and it gets them out of the house. Some have even said it gives them a reason to get up in the morning.”
While younger people tend to view exercise as a way to stay in shape and trim fat, Goonetilleke said, older folks see it differently.
“I think seniors do it more for the cardiovascular and range of motion, and it’s a great preventative measure. It keeps them away from the doctor,” she said. “It prevents different diseases and health issues, and also prevents depression and these feelings of seclusion that can cause more harm than anything else. A senior will break their hip and end up in a nursing home, and they don’t only go downhill physically but mentally.”
About 60 people—some as old as 92—are signed up for the Center’s thrice weekly exercise class. It’s a strenuous 40-minute cardio workout followed by a half-hour of weight lifting, lunges, squats, and dead lifts.
The class is offered through Allan Hancock College and taught by Lisa Griffith, a recreational therapist at the school. She’s headed the program for the past 17 years and said while she pushes her students, she also teaches them to know their limits. m
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas is really good for your stamina. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 22-29, 2010.