Seniors’ lives improved through Silver Sneakers

By Beth Ranagan

The benefits of exercise to promote good physical and mental health of seniors is well known. No one wants to grow old unable to stand and walk. Your best hope to avoid that scenario is exercise. Exercise doesn’t have to be boring, exhausting, or risky. It just has to help you maintain flexibility and strength so that you can participate easily in the basic activities of daily living with good balance so as to not fall and break bones. We all want to remain independent in our own homes. Gone are the days of thinking, “I’m old now, so I can’t walk well or do much of anything anymore. Falling is just a part of being old.”

Let’s look beyond those thoughts to the Healthways Silver Sneakers Fitness Program offered at Community Fitness in Guilford. It is available to those 65-plus years of age. Exercises improve strength and flexibility of muscles and joints throughout the body.

According to instructor Terri Palin, “Participants in Silver Sneakers use chairs, small balls, bands and lightweight props in class. The program can be done from a seated position, if needed, and is designed to accommodate all fitness levels, including those with physical limitations or who may require assistive medical equipment.” Assistive medical equipment may include a walker, cane, or supplemental oxygen.

Besides fitness, the other positive aspects to Healthways Silver Sneakers are the fun and friends you may have when you are a member of the group. Once a month, members participate in a potluck lunch that is open to the entire Guilford community, thereby further expanding the opportunity for fun, friendships, and social interaction. Palin has also included the element of “family” in the program because “so many of the participants live alone with no family in the area.” When someone is sick, a “get well” basket may be put together. We all like to feel remembered when we are ill and can’t be at class with the friends who treat us like family.

Palin holds special credentials to teach the Silver Sneakers class from Healthways, a well-being improvement company offering programs for changing lifestyles to treat and reverse chronic diseases. In her 50s, she is not quite a senior yet, but she has a passion to help older people maintain and improve physical abilities. Palin is also A Matter of Balance Master Trainer.

Having been in those classes with her, I can say that she has a warm personality and a wonderful sense of humor, both of which help her students make gains without even knowing it. The atmosphere she creates makes improvements effortless for participants of her classes. The pace is relaxed and never hurried.

One class member said about the program, “I can take a shower now without having to have one hand on the grab bar.” Another commented, “If I lose my balance, I can catch myself much better than before.”

A five-year veteran of the class, Hilda Mulherin, remarked, “After four surgeries in one year and almost no muscle control left, I decided to join Silver Sneakers. It was the best decision I ever made.”

In keeping with the Skeleton Crew’s goals to help people reverse the condition of osteoporosis and maintain balance to prevent falls and broken bones, the organization will welcome Palin and Mulherin and her husband to speak about the Silver Sneakers program. Information about how you can become part of this program will be available. The event is at noon on Friday, June 3 at the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter. It is free as is the bone-healthy lunch that will be offered. For further information, call Liz Breault at the library at 924-7292.