Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

When you were a kid, going out to play was something you likely did every day. No matter if it was riding a bike, skipping rocks at the pond, or running around the neighborhood with friends, it was just fun! Moving came naturally and easy and was not considered “exercise” to the adolescent mind even though it was most certainly keeping your body healthy. The reason I bring this up is because I want you to think about those times. They were a lot of fun, weren’t they? Sometimes in our fitness center, we will hear a member say that exercise isn’t very fun. We get it! Exercise isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but as a fitness professional, my goal is to find a way to make it fun for you. Another thing we will often here is “I’m not as young as I was!” or “I can’t do that type of movement anymore.” It is true, with the play you did as a child, there was probably a lot of falling, bumps, and bruises and that can make a person apprehensive to get started in “play” again. But that is why we are here, to explore with you and find a form of fitness that you enjoy. Yes, the several number of changes that tend to happen to the body as it goes through the stages of life can make some things more difficult, but we want to help keep it from being the reason you decide to play less.

A regular physical activity regimen allows older adults to maintain independence as they age and navigate their way through life. The recommended goal for older adults is at least 150 minutes a week (that’s only 30 minutes of movement each day!) of moderate intensity aerobic exercise with two of those days being some type of muscle strengthening activity to improve muscle and bone health. All exercise is beneficial, but when we start aging, the most beneficial type of program would be one consisting of balance, flexibility, strength, and endurance. An equal mixture of all four and over time can provide drastic improvement in your everyday life activities as well as the overall health of your body.

Think back to younger years when stretching before and after physical activity wasn’t a thing, what were some of your favorite activities? Did you play cops and robbers with your friends, jump and splash in the pool with siblings, or play sports with friends? What are similar alternatives?

Did you really love running cross country track because it allowed you to get outside and see nature, that could now be substituted for going on weekly peaceful hikes with your family or friends. Explore local nature reserves and trails!

Did you like heading to the community pool or pond for a day with friends? Join your nearby fitness center and check out aqua classes or invite a friend to water walk!

Did you enjoy tennis? Consider taking up pickleball! A very similar game to tennis with less court to travel requiring less intense hits to get the ball across the net.

Did you belong to a bowling league? Believe it or not, virtual (Wii) bowling can be just as fun and competitive while also challenging your balance and stability!

Of course, we also suggest starting with your fitness professional! Talk to them about what you enjoy and what you don’t about exercise. We can help find ways to make it fun while increasing stamina and strength to enjoy “playing” more! Don’t forget that physical activity over time can improve quality of life and can increase longevity while decreasing other conditions that may come up. If it has been a while since you have exercised, that is okay! If you can make exercising social and fun, it can become something you love doing which helps to stay motivated instead of feeling like a chore.

The prevalence of Parkinson’s Disease is on the rise. Previous numbers indicated that 60,000 Americans are diagnosed each year and new research from the Parkinson’s Foundation indicates a steep 50% increase with 90,000 Americans now diagnosed annually. For senior living providers if you aren’t seeing Parkinson’s amongst your resident population yet, it is on the horizon as diagnosis is directly associated with increased age. This may result in less than a dozen or so residents living with Parkinson’s in your community at a time, but if you consider how Parkinson’s may also be impacting spouses of those diagnosed, the impact is deep. In addition, there is a good chance you have employees and residents with loved ones impacted as Parkinson’s remains the second most common age-related neurological disorder behind Alzheimer’s Disease.

Much like Alzheimer’s, there is no cure, and the treatment path is to control symptoms. One of the best treatments to not only manage symptoms but also delay the onset is through exercise. In NIFS work supporting dozens of senior living communities across the US, I shared previously how we were receiving requests from our clients for quality exercise resources to support residents with Parkinson’s and NIFS development of our signature program Bold Moves.

As April is Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month, many communities are looking for resources to provide Parkinson’s education to their residents and staff as well as options for quality fitness programs to cater to the unique training needs of residents with Parkinson’s. This is why we are pumped to host Pump it for Parkinson’s!

This event on Tuesday, April 11 will unite the senior living industry for a common cause. The National Institute for Fitness and Sport (NIFS) and our partners at NuStep, ICAA and Wellzesta are inviting communities to join us for this education-based fitness event. Pump it for Parkinson’s is a day-long NuStep-a-thon where we accumulate steps from senior living providers across the US with a goal of achieving 1 million steps to honor the 1 million Americans living with Parkinson’s. NIFS will be providing communities with a packet in the mail of promotional items as well as a digital resource library that can help them customize an event unique to the interests of their residents. With informative resources for your Parkinson’s Education Station, employees, residents and families can learn more about Parkinson’s, grab exercise resources and healthy recipes while also contributing steps on the NuStep!

Registration is free and a great way for a community to introduce wellness resources for Parkinson’s or celebrate the hard work of residents who are already fighting back against the disease! Take advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate your community’s commitment to being an industry leader in helping residents live well!

Every step counts and we would love for your community to join us and contribute to our goal of one million steps. Participating locations will have a chance to win a NuStep T6 Cross Trainer and will also receive a digital toolkit of Parkinson’s fitness resources including exercise videos, handouts and tips from NIFS registered dietitian. 

In parts I and II of this blog series, I discussed why it’s important to cultivate a robust health and fitness program for residents in AL and memory-care environments and how to tap into your existing personnel to make that happen. In this final blog of the series, I’m going to cover a few additional resources for enhancing your fitness program.

•  Consider how you can have a more inclusive environment in your IL fitness amenities: Can you establish criteria or resident support tools to invite AL or memory-care residents to use the existing exercise equipment in the fitness center or partake in group exercise classes with IL residents?
• Develop a fitness space: Whether it is sectioning off a small corner of an existing activity or lounge space or building out an entire room for fitness equipment, having a dedicated fitness space or studio can be a great option for residents of all ability levels.
• Dedicate a variety of exercise equipment options: It’s time to put down the pool noodles and the beach balls. There are a number of small fitness equipment pieces on the market that can create new challenges and variety in group exercise classes.
• Consider qualified staff: The demand for quality fitness offerings for older adults has steadily increased in the past decade. Fortunately, there also more qualified fitness staff on the market who have experience catering to the unique needs of older adults. Working with a staffing partner like NIFS or hiring your own fitness professional to support your residents’ health and fitness needs even in a part-time capacity can be a significant enhancement to your program.

Through the course of this blog series, I’ve highlighted a variety of opportunities to enhance your fitness offerings for AL and memory-care residents.  While having qualified fitness staff can be a difference maker, there is quite a bit that existing activities staff can do to improve exercise offerings. With that being said, you already have a full plate of responsibilities to serve your residents and pausing to develop a strategy for doing fitness better might be a challenge. If you’re ready to improve your fitness program for residents in assisted living and memory care environments, find out more about how we can help you.

While we've seen significant progress in what exercise can look like for residents in independent living (IL), for many communities, there remains something of a disconnect in making sure residents throughout the continuum of care have access to the same or similarly robust services and amenities. The IL residents at a community often have a fitness center, pool, robust group fitness calendar, and individualized services available to them and in many cases as they transition to AL or other areas of care on campus the drastic decline in available options shifts them from a professionally managed health and fitness program to chair-based exercise classes lead by an activities professional. This is not an equitable approach.

[Read More: 3 must-have services in your senior living community fitness center]

For our clients though, this hasn't been the case because our staff are pushing on the leading edge of what expanded fitness programming for residents in assisted living (AL), and memory-care environments can look like. If you’re ready to take a closer look at the exercise program you provide for residents in licensed areas, these three questions are a great place to start:

How do you answer questions about options for exercise in higher levels of care?

Whether you work in a standalone AL or memory-care community or in a Life Plan (CCRC) environment, prospects and families inevitably ask about the physical activity options that are available beyond billable rehab services. They understand the importance of keeping the mind and body in motion as part of a daily lifestyle. Does your community have a good answer for these questions that demonstrates robust options that are purposeful and executed by trained staff specially for residents who need a higher level of care?

How do you support residents after they finish therapy?

In licensed areas, residents often have rehab services readily available to them and that might seem like an easy "exercise" solution. However, billable therapy has limits. How do you support residents when they are discharged after 6-8 weeks of therapy and eliminate the revolving door of improved function leading to a discharge from therapy services followed by a decline due to lack of physical activity options which leads them back in therapy again?

How do you facilitate resident moves to higher levels of care in a way that provides them with consistent access to exercise options?

If you operate a Life Plan community with a robust fitness program for your IL residents, how do the residents’ options compare in terms of amenities, programs and services, and qualified staffing as residents move through the continuum? Having a continuation of offerings can be a great comfort as residents transition from one part of the community to another and it’s a valuable demonstration that the lifestyle they buy into in IL truly carries with them with whatever level of care they might need on campus.

Your answers to those questions may leave you with program and service gaps to fill.  In our 12+ years working in senior living, we’ve developed best practices in exercise with residents in assisted living and memory care for:

• Group fitness class offerings beyond basic chair exercise classes taught by the activities staff
• Individualized services including personal training and fitness and balance assessments
• Dedicated exercise equipment and spaces
• Enriching wellness-based programming opportunities

Want to learn more about how you can build more comprehensive exercise services for your residents?