Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

Regular physical activity is a major key when comes to living a healthy lifestyle and has many benefits. The biggest benefit is that physical activity helps improve your overall health overtime.

Regular physical activity can improve your heart health. The heart is to your body what an engine is to a car. Essentially, the heart makes the body go. Regular physical activity can improve the efficiency of the heart by lowering your blood pressure, reducing risk of a heart attack, and reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Regular physical activity can lead to increased bone, muscle, and joint strength which can lower risk of developing osteoporosis. 

Regular physical activity is not something that just helps your heart, bones, and muscle health. Regular exercise has shown to improve our daily moods and contributes to increased and sustained energy. Studies have shown regular physical activity helps you feel more relaxed and helps improve our sleep and sleeping patterns. Moving our bodies is also great for the mind, a number of studies have shown that regular physical activity can help depression by blocking negative thoughts, and changing levels of chemicals in the brain, such as stress hormones, endorphins and serotonin levels. Incorporating regular activity into your day can help keep your thinking, learning and judgement skills sharp as you age.

Regular physical activity is also known to play a critical role in weight management, whether that is maintaining weight or losing weight. The easiest way to start your regular physical activity is walking. Walking for 30 minutes, 5 days a week can go a long way. This type of regular physical activity can increase the chances of living longer. The risk of premature death for adults 60 years and younger starts to level off right at around 8,000 and 10,000 steps a day.

Regular physical activity is a main component to living a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. With regular physical activity you are not only going to increase your health but change your quality of life. How do you plan to increase your physical activity this week?

Want to get a full body workout without the aches and pains of traditional exercise? Aqua exercise could be perfect for you! This low impact exercise is for people of all ages and varying physical abilities. Aqua exercise is especially great for the active aging community. Common workouts performed on land such as walking, running, and weightlifting, are important for building strength and endurance, but these workouts can be strenuous on the joints, ligaments, and bones. There are many ways to exercise in the water and you can do it with or without any equipment. Moving under water is a full body exercise, working your muscles in every possible direction with decreased rick of injury due to less impact and strain. With the help of specially designed exercises, you can achieve a full body workout, activating every muscle group without dealing with stress and strain conventional exercises can cause you. Listed below are four reasons you should be exercising in the water!  

GRAVITY. The biggest difference between exercising in water versus land is the effect of gravity on your body. In our daily lives outside of water, we are constantly feeling the force of gravity at 100%. This force is most felt in the ankles, knees, hips, and back, especially during exercise. Submerging just hip deep into water will eliminate 50% of that force! If you go even deeper into water to perform your exercise, the amount of pressure on your body will continue to decrease. The water alleviates pressure off your bones, ligaments, and muscles. Because of the vast differences between land and water, exercising in a pool is perfect for individuals with chronic pain, arthritis, joint replacements, and even just general lack of strength.

HEALTH BENEFITS. It is important to always exercise according to your own physical abilities and limitations. Just like exercising on land, you can exercise in the water with the goal of elevating your heart rate and breathing for short bursts at a time. Studies have shown that older adults have seen improvements in body composition, explosive strength, functional fitness, and cognitive function after participating in several weeks of aqua aerobic exercise.

ADAPTABILITY. There are many ways you can cater your water workouts to best fit your goals and physical abilities. If you are not the best swimmer, you can purchase a floatation belt or vest which will help to make you feel more comfortable performing exercise in the water. If you want more traction in the water, you may want to consider wearing water shoes or athletic shoes into the pool. There is also equipment you can use to increase the resistance on your muscles and help to build even more strength. You can use water weights which are generally shaped like dumbbells that range in the level of buoyancy. A pool noodle is also a great tool to perform both upper and lower body movements. 

If you have never tried an aquatic workout, I challenge you to give it a chance! You can even perform the same exercises you typically do on land in the water and see the difference.

The NuStep is a great multifunctional piece of equipment. Did you know the NuStep can be used for more than just building endurance? You can build strength, cardio, AND endurance depending how you use it. This is what makes the NuStep such a versatile piece of equipment in a senior living fitness center and why NIFS has partnered with NuStep for Pump it for Parkinson’s on Tuesday, April 11! This one-day event invites senior living communities across the country to come together, learn how Parkinson’s Disease affects our friends and neighbors while raising awareness on the benefits of exercise for those fighting back against the disease! We’ll be utilizing, you guessed it, the NuStep! Participation is free and communities will have a chance to win a NuStep T6 Cross Trainer. We’d love to have your community help us meet our goal of 1 million steps to honor the 1 million people in the US with Parkinson’s Day! Visit our Pump it for Parkinson’s page to complete your community’s registration and receive free tools to help in your planning.

As for taking your residents’ workouts to the next level on the NuStep, check out these great coaching techniques!

Using the NuStep for Endurance: Besides just getting on and going, have a plan when trying to build endurance with the NuStep. To help build endurance, make sure the resistance of the machine is moderately set. About a 4-6 on your 1-10 RPE (rating of perceived exertion) scale. Make sure you are maintaining your steps per minute! To help improve your endurance over time, add one to two minutes to the duration of your exercise session every week. This can help you go for a longer amount of time without taking a break.

Using the NuStep for Strength: To build strength with the NuStep, try this simple workout. After a warmup of about five minutes, turn your resistance up to a challenging level, about a 7-9 on your RPE scale. Using only your arms (feet are resting off the peddles), row at a moderate to quick pace for two minutes. After the two minutes, switch to just using your legs (arms resting on the arm rests), also peddling at the same pace for two more minutes. After the two minutes are up and now using your full body, peddle for five minutes on the same resistance. Repeat the cycle for the duration of your workout. Building strength can help you maintain independence, increase bone health, and increase muscle mass.

Using the NuStep for Cardio: To increase your cardiovascular fitness, you can try interval or high intensity interval training (HIIT). This will help increase the functional ability of your heart and lungs. Make sure you warm up for at least five minutes at a low resistance. After your warm up, increase the resistance to a moderate-vigorous level, about a 7-9 on your RPE scale, and peddle quickly for 60 seconds maintaining your steps per minute. After the 60 seconds is over, lower your resistance to a 4-5 on your RPE scale and decrease your steps per minute for a 60 second recovery. Repeat for the duration of your workout. You can adjust the amount of time as necessary. 30 seconds on, 90 seconds off, and so forth.

Make sure you are finishing your workout with a cooldown and some light stretching. Also make sure you are using the NuStep with good posture and that the machine is adjusted correctly for you. Before starting a workout, consult your physician and exercise professional if certain types of exercise are right for you. The NuStep can be a great alternative to other equipment which may be confusing to use, difficult to get in and out of, or aggravates an ailment. Check out a variety of NuStep workouts by visiting their website!

Join us for our Pump It for Parkinson's Event and receive a free program guide and resources to host this event at your community, April 11! Click below for more information. 

When designing a senior living fitness center, there are many factors that aid in the decision process when choosing equipment for our clients and their residents. We want to incorporate equipment that is cost effective, easy to move, applicable and safe for many individuals, and of course enjoyable. Here are five reasons why the NuStep is a staple in the senior living fitness centers managed by NIFS!

• Confidence Builder – We often have residents with limited exercise experience, or they may have joint pain that they feel limits their ability to exercise. The thoughtful step-thru design and swivel seat make the task of sitting and getting into position comfortable and safe for many users. The low impact motion is a great way for residents to move their upper and lower body to gain the confidence that they can exercise, and they feel better by doing it!
• Size of the NuStep – The size of models will vary depending on the year manufactured but, in most cases, a NuStep is about 3.5 ft tall x 5 ft in length and 2.5 ft wide. With these dimensions, it doesn’t take up too much space in your senior living fitness center. The average weight for a NuStep is two-hundred pounds. Once the machine is in use, it stays sturdy in one location for our senior living community.
• Ease of Use – NuStep cross trainers are beginner friendly and designed to be applicable to a wide range of individuals. Residents don’t even have to press buttons or try to understand complicated display monitors to turn it on or off. As soon as they start pumping their arms and legs, the machine turns on automatically. The NuStep then tracks helpful metrics for how long they have been on the machine, along with total steps if they are going for a particular goal.
• Intensity – The NuStep can cater to ranging levels of strength and endurance in residents. This is done seamlessly by participants using a green handle located on the right side of the machine to adjust the workload. NuStep intensity levels range from one through ten. Pumping at the high end of that range gives our advanced residents a more intense working to accomplish their goals and our beginner exercisers can continue to safely build strength and endurance by increasing the workload over time.
• Ability to Move/Fix – The mobility of the NuStep is very convenient. Wheels on one end make it easy to relocate if needed and since a variety of models do not require electricity, it can accommodate a variety of floor plans. The need for repairing the machine due to mechanical issues are quite low due to the durability. The most popular “fix” is to simply replace the batteries in order for the monitor to turn on so your residents have that feedback as they get their steps in each day.

We love seeing the confidence our participants gain by having an exercise option that meets their needs in a senior living setting and the NuStep continues to be one of the most accessible, durable, and loved pieces of equipment by our residents! We love it so much that we developed a whole program centered around the NuStep!

Pump it for Parkinson’s is a nationwide event on World Parkinson’s Day where we are putting NuSteps to work in senior living communities across the US! This day-long NuStep-a-thon on Tuesday, April 11^th will help raise awareness on the benefits of exercise for those with Parkinson’s. Communities will receive expert resources from NIFS on how to support their residents with Parkinson’s and there will be a chance to win a free NuStep T6 Cross Trainer! Visit our Pump it for Parkinson’s event page to complete your community’s free registration today and help us spread the word!

Register your community for our FREE educational event and get your residents pumping for Parkinson's Disease as we raise awareness!

Over 15 years ago, I remember sitting down at the computer in my senior living client’s fitness center and Googling, “exercises for Parkinson’s disease”. I had a new resident move-in with Parkinson’s and though I’m a certified and degreed exercise physiologist, I wanted to make sure I understood how to support her needs. Her name was Carolyn and I still remember her smile.

I now work at the operational level for NIFS supporting dozens of senior living clients and team members across the country. I benefit from a bird’s eye view of hearing successes and challenges impacting our communities and what residents want in their fitness center. I was continuing to hear requests from clients and staff for Parkinson’s resources. Our clients wanting a quality, yet manageable program that stands up to their brand promise in helping residents live well, and from our staff feeling like there were missed opportunities to better engage these residents.

Our staff are degreed fitness professionals, but those credentials don’t tell the full story of who they are as people. They are intuitive and gifted in relationship building with their members. They shared stories of individuals with Parkinson’s trying an existing balance class and noticing they weren’t coming back. They shared stories of what they were witnessing in the emotional needs of these residents who can also experience fatigue and depression.

As a prospective or current resident with a diagnosis speaks to our clients or staff, we want them to feel confidently met with exercise options that they know are designed for their needs. This is where Bold Moves was born. We spent over a year researching, completing specialized certifications, and meeting with our team to learn not only how to better support the exercise needs of those with Parkinson’s, but in a way that we know is manageable in a senior living fitness environment. We know the equipment, spaces, personnel, and resources commonly in place and created safe and empowering programming with Bold Moves that our staff could apply across different client settings.

Many think they have classes and one-on-one services that residents with Parkinson’s can participate in already. This was our line of thinking too. But after implementing Bold Moves, the level of engagement by residents with Parkinson’s skyrocketed. In the first two months of the program, we saw a 96% increase in group fitness participation by these individuals having a dedicated class on the calendar uniquely designed for their training needs. We have also seen a 100%+ increase in completion of our one-on-one exercise prescription service. These residents are regularly engaging in their community’s fitness centers more and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come since the days of that simple Google search looking for resources!

We were so pumped by these outcomes; we wanted to celebrate and share resources to help more communities support their residents. On World Parkinson’s Day, we are going BIG with Pump it for Parkinson’s. During this nationwide event on Tuesday, April 11, senior living providers will come together, utilize complimentary programming materials to host their NuStep step-a-thon, and receive expert resources from NIFS to continue supporting their residents with Parkinson’s. Don’t have a NuStep in your community? That’s OK. We can find opportunities utilizing the equipment you do have. It is estimated that one million people are living in the US with Parkinson’s and our goal is to come together and complete at least one million steps on the NuStep as we Pump it for Parkinson’s. In addition to the great Parkinson’s resources including instructional videos for your fitness staff and education from NIFS Registered Dietitian, your community will also have an opportunity to win a free NuStep T6 Cross Trainer in thanks to our partnership with NuStep! We are thankful for our industry partners with NuStep, ICAA and Wellzesta who are helping us spread the word about this event so more communities can join us. For more information and to register your community, visit our Pump it for Parkinson’s page here.

The National Institute for Fitness and Sport (NIFS) presents Pump It for Parkinson’s on World Parkinson’s Day, April 11, 2023. NIFS has partnered with NuStep inviting senior living communities across the country to take part in this event to raise awareness on the benefits of exercise for individuals with Parkinson’s. Pump It for Parkinson’s will be a day-long NuStep challenge for senior communities striving to achieve 30,000 steps on their NuStep.

Emily Davenport, NIFS Director of Fitness Center Management, said, “communities can rally their entire campus by bringing together their residents and employees to accomplish the goal!” NIFS will provide communities with a complimentary programming packet including tracking tools, promotional content, and educational resources they need to get their residents excited. The event’s goal is to accrue 1 million steps representing the 1 million people in the US living with Parkinson’s!

“Whether this event is a community’s first program dedicated to supporting residents with Parkinson’s or a fun add-on to existing offerings, we want to provide resources as they continue to help residents fight back against Parkinson’s,” said Davenport. Participating communities will also receive a Parkinson’s fitness toolkit of resources and videos they can use in their fitness center. Communities that want to get involved need to register here.

“We’re pleased to partner with NIFS and support their event, Pump It for Parkinson’s. And we’re honored that participants will be using NuStep cross trainers throughout the day to demonstrate the importance of exercise for people with Parkinson’s," said NuStep Vice President of Marketing and Product Development, Tobey Thelen. As an added incentive, thanks to NuStep and NIFS, communities may be eligible to win a NuStep T6 Cross Trainer for participating in Pump It for Parkinson's.

Nearly 10 million individuals are living with Parkinson’s Disease worldwide and each year 90,000 Americans are diagnosed with this degenerative condition. Three years ago, NIFS embarked on developing a comprehensive fitness program to meet the unique needs of residents with Parkinson’s Disease for their senior living community clients. From this, Bold Moves programming specifically designed for residents with Parkinson’s was born.

NIFS would like to thank strategic partners, NuStep and Wellzesta, for supporting Pump It for Parkinson’s and their help in creating awareness of the unique fitness needs residents with Parkinson’s Disease have.

To find out more about Fitness Center Management by NIFS, call (317) 274-3432, email Emily Davenport.

NuStep is a leading manufacturer of recumbent cross-trainers used in healthcare, senior living, and fitness settings worldwide.

Communities can learn more about this complimentary program and register for the event by clicking the button below!

Follow the event on our Facebook page: Pump It for Parkinson's