exercise & ageing
Everyone Active’s over-50s walking groups have proved popular (left). Bob Halls (below) won a FLAME award for his community work
“OUR CLASSES THAT APPEAL TO OLDER PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS AT LEAST 70 PER CENT FULL, AND OFTEN 100 PER CENT”
seated sport, but with a bit of creativity it works really well and has proved very popular. The participants develop their teamwork skills as well as their cardiovascular fi tness and co-ordination. It also introduces light strength training in their arms and legs.” A postural stability class is also now
being run in two homes, which uses balancing and resistance exercises to work on muscles that are prone to wastage, thereby reducing the risk of falling. Those who can lie on the fl oor are taught ways of getting themselves up if they fall. Also coming soon is a singing class, with accompanying movements to improve hand-eye co-ordination.
EVERYONE ACTIVE Leisure operator Everyone Active runs a variety of classes for those aged 50+ across its centres, with walking groups proving a real hit. These sessions typically attract up to 40 participants and often inspire people to volunteer their time to set up additional walking groups. “Our classes that appeal to older people are always at least 70 per cent full, and often 100 per cent,” says group exercise manager Michelle Bletso.
“People like the social element.” She continues: “Completion rates on
exercise referral schemes are also much higher among adults over the age of 50 than with younger age groups, and they commonly continue with exercise after. Not only that, but the majority of our cash comes from the older age group because they prefer to pay and play.” Bletso thinks the marketing approach needs to change across the whole
50 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital november/december 2011 © cybertrek 2011 industry: “We don’t see enough of the
‘silver surfers’ in our marketing, and also we need to start recruiting older instructors. Mature people feel more comfortable and unintimidated when the age of their instructor is more in keeping with their own.” Everyone Active is very proud of its
Future of FLAME award winner, Bob Halls, from the Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre – a shining example of how a more mature instructor can inspire others. A retired police inspector, Halls then started a second career in fi tness. Under the umbrella of Everyone Active, he set up a cardiac rehabilitation scheme to which over 100 clients have been referred from local hospitals and GPs, as well as working voluntarily as a health walk trainer for the Walk for Health initiative – including training over 250 walk leaders. He takes a
number of weekly classes aimed at seniors, which have proved very popular due to the great social atmosphere he creates. He has also expanded this into outreach classes for older people, held in sheltered accommodation and local community centres.
REDHOLME CARE HOME Technogym is actively trying to find ways of reaching out to, and improving the health of, elderly people. Its Easy Line equipment range is said to be ideal for this purpose, since the range uses a low level of technology and a hydraulic system, meaning there are no large weight stacks. At Redholme, a residential care home
in Liverpool for people suffering from dementia, the use of a Technogym gym resulted in a 20 per cent reduction in
Redholme residential care home installed Technogym’s Easy Line and saw a 20 per cent reduction in falls in nine months
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