“My husband died 5 years ago and there I was, no muscles and no way to function on my own,” says 72-year old Dotti, who attends SilverSneakers three times a week at the Tyrone, Florida Lifestyle Family Fitness club.
“Now I can walk into Sam’s Club and pick up a bag of dog food and a case of water without assistance.”
The room is at full capacity for the 9a.m. SilverSneakers program. The draw? Instructor Kelly Christensen.
“You cannot beat Kelly. She gets you moving,” says a diabetic class member who uses the class to keep her glucose levels under control.
Women and men attend the class for a variety of reasons.
“In 2001, I had a total hip replacement. At that time, my doctor said it wouldn’t be long before we’d be doing the other hip,” says Judy who enrolled in Silver Sneakers classes after her surgery. “A year or so later, my doctor here told me that the condition of my hip had improved! If it weren’t for this program, I would no doubt have had the other hip replaced.”
In addition to physical comfort, many class attendees gain other benefits.
“This class is preventative for me. I don’t have any health problems and I don’t intend to have any,” says 73-year-old Helen Wall who always attends class with her closest friend Dotti.
Both women are widows.
­­­“I actually signed up a year or two before I began attending and then my husband died from health issues and I figured I better go,” adds Wall.
The class is like a tightly knit community and the room is very full.
“We all feel like we belong and we care about one another,” says Dotti. “If someone doesn’t attend then we ask where they are.”
After class, the women chat amongst themselves and catch up on the good news. 86-year old classmate Andy has a new girlfriend.
“He’s 86 and gets a new girlfriend. That’s great!” says one of the women.
“I wouldn’t say this is the place to meet people, but it’s probably better then ‘plentyoffish.com,” adds Helen.
The women erupt in laughter.
Several amazing stories of companionship come from the class. 87-year old Betty Ashley has been attending SilverSneakers for four years now. She finds improved stamina is helping her keep up with friends.
“I just returned from a two-week trip to Spain and Portugal and I was able to keep up with the rugged, required walking and did better than my younger companion,” says Ashley about her purposeful mission to teach English to speakers of other languages. “Plus, there have been many happy times with friends I have met here.”
The SilverSneakers Fitness Program is offered by leading Medicare health plans and Medicare carriers throughout the country, at no additional cost. In addition, several insurance companies offer membership to the program.
To find out if a senior in your family is qualified to attend the classes free, as well as hold a free membership to Lifestyle Family Fitness, please go to: SilverSneakers.com and select the “health plan” tab.
To then find out about the SilverSneaker class schedule at your Lifestyle Family Fitness location, please visit www.lff.com and go to the class schedule page.

SIDEBAR: AEROBIC FITNESS CAN SHAVE 10-12 YEARS OFF YOUR BIOLOGICAL AGE.

It happens around middle age: Your body begins experiencing a power crisis. You no longer utilize oxygen efficiently, and your overall energy reserves weaken. You fatigue more quickly, your metabolism slows, and your physical energy is more easily sapped. Suddenly, you feel like a go-cart in a NASCAR race. Welcome to the agonizing declinations of aging.
Scientists tell us that a 60-year-old sedentary man has a maximal aerobic power output half of what it was when he was 20. The key word here: sedentary. That’s the good news, because if you choose not to be sedentary, your power crisis can be averted. Research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine proves that you can actually lower your biological age by as many as 12 years with the simple performance of regular high-intensity aerobic exercise.