Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

The Power of Music During Exercise

GettyImages-1029347386If music is good for the mind, and exercise is good for the body why not combine the two at the same time?

Since I can remember, music has been a part of exercise, either playing in the background or exercising to the beat of the music. At the school gym there would be rock and roll playing while exercising on the machines. When running or walking outside I would find songs I can use the tempo of to keep a consistent pace. In group exercise class they would play upbeat motivational music to keep us moving and to help not focus on how hard we are breathing. During Yoga class, they play soft, meditation music to help calm our minds and relax into the poses and stretches we are trying to perform.

Many forms of exercise combined with different forms of music can help bring further benefit to the workout. By listening to preferred music, it can leave a positive effect on the brain and help associate what might be seen as a difficult workout more pleasurable. The exercise will be linked to the feeling of listening to a favorite song or favorite genre. With calming music during a cooldown or slower paced class like Yoga, music can bring our mind into a state of peace and relaxation.

Another benefit seen is music can keep the mind occupied while the body is working. When working out alone in a Fitness Center or at home, some people find it boring, especially having to wait during rest times before the next set or exercise. By incorporating music, the rest time becomes less tedious and more fun! Stretching the muscles at the end of a workout also takes time and patience to sit in a pose for 30 seconds up to a minute. With music that can become time to catch up on music you have been wanting to listen to or even podcasts or book audios if music is not an interest.

With today’s technology there are various methods to listen to music. There are many kinds of headphones to wear that can go over the ears or in the ears that are both corded or wireless connecting to a phone. Speakers used at home or TV channels that play almost any genre 24/7. There are even hearing aids that can wirelessly connect to a phone.

If music is not your jam that is okay too. For some, the silence during exercise can feel therapeutic. It might be the only time in the day or week that is a quiet time to reflect or not have to think about anything other than moving the body.

It is important to get exercise into the weekly routine and it can be hard to find ways to make exercise more enjoyable. It can be a mind game to be convinced to go out for a walk during a cold day or go to a fitness class that is early in the morning. There have been many strategies discovered to help beginners into the habit of routine exercise. Music might just be the missing element to a more pleasant and active lifestyle.

Topics: exercise senior fitness music workout music

Boost Your Workout with Motivating Music

NIFS | Group Fitness GroovePop in those earbuds and get moving. Exercise and music go hand-in-hand for many gym-goers. Listening to music is a great way to make your work out more enjoyable. There’s nothing like cranking up an upbeat, energetic, song that adds a little pep to your step. An excellent motivator, music helps you to keep up with the pace of your workout, and inspiring lyrics keep you moving. Those specific beats and lyrics can encourage you work harder and push you to complete your workout. Keeping up with the beat provided by music can prevent you from slacking and help you power through to reach your goals. 


Music can also be a good kind of distraction. It can help distract you from the so called “pain” or “burn” of the workout. The music can help to take your mind off the exercise that is being performed and might even challenge you to complete just “one more” repetition or finish that last mile! Those catchy tunes can make working out more bearable rather than it being quiet and listening to yourself breathe. Listening to music allows you focus more on your workout and definitely makes it a little more fun!

Have you ever had a song come on and instantly you feel your mood improve? Music can elevate your mood and get you excited about working out too. It can give you that extra boost to make you more energetic and it might even get you “in the zone.”  Music can drown out external distractions so you can concentrate on the exercise.  It also might push you to keep moving until the end of the song. Music can put you in a positive mindset providing motivation and making your workout more enjoyable.

Select songs with that perfect beat. Put together a playlist that will keep your muscles pumping and your body moving or check out some of the latest music apps specifically made to jazz up your workout. Or, skip the playlist and check out this list of 5 music apps that you can install for some motivating tunes. Just like your workout, remember to periodically change your playlist. This can make your workout be more challenging and less predictable. The more enjoyable your music is the easier your workout might just be. So, crank up that music (just not too loud) and start moving to the beat of your favorite tunes!

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Topics: motivation music fitness goals workout music playlist workout motivation

Spice Up Group Fitness Routines for Seniors, Keep Residents Interested

ThinkstockPhotos-509732600_1.jpgGroup exercise classes are one of the top activities in senior living communities nowadays. With the increasing number of activities provided on community calendars, having a good group exercise program significantly impacts the overall resident well-being as they participate in their daily activities.

The initial spark of having a new group fitness class promotes a tremendous buzz throughout the community, and the new activity on the calendar generates a lot of popularity. Participation is high, and residents look forward to this new class to see what’s in store for them at the next session. A month or so down the road, however, you may notice that the residents who were highly motivated to attend a particular exercise class have begun to feel less interested in the routine, potentially causing a decrease in participation.

When people are acclimated to an established exercise routine, there may come a point where they feel tired of doing the same exercises over and over again, or don’t feel challenged enough in the journey to an improved quality of life. If you begin to notice these things in your exercise programs, it might be time to make some minor adjustments. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to turn your group exercise program on its head and start from scratch.  Spice up group fitness routines for seniors and keep them interested.

As an exercise instructor who thinks about these things on a daily basis, one of my primary goals is to encourage participation in our group exercise classes on a regular basis, regardless of their skill level. I actively think of different ways of keeping residents enthusiastic about our classes, while still maintaining their overall purpose. While residents want to exercise safely, they also want to be appropriately challenged so that they don’t lose the benefit of maintaining an active lifestyle.

Following are three different strategies that I have used in the past to keep residents interested in classes.

Mixing Up the Exercises in Your Routines

Adding different exercises into your routines will help keep your residents interested, and can increase cognition as they perform exercises that focus on balance and hand-eye coordination. A good way to map this out is to try one new exercise per class, and see how your residents respond to it. If they find enjoyment in the sequence, you are on the right track! Varying your group exercise sequences every month or two can go a long way in maintaining resident interest.

Another effective strategy that helps in mixing up your routines is to have two or three different formats for one particular class, and to rotate through those formats. I have always found that having a couple routines that I could rotate through on a weekly or monthly basis keeps people more engaged.

Incorporate Music into Your Classes

Whether it’s a choreographed mix-tape that has a variety of upbeat songs for low-impact aerobic routines, or a Big Band CD that is used simply as a background filler for the class, you will notice an immediate increase in residents’ mood in the class, and in some cases they might even get into the groove as the music is playing in class. Having a mixture of upbeat tunes along with songs requested by your residents will keep the excitement going in class. Music can also serve as a motivational factor for residents when they are participating in classes, because exercising to music can have psychological benefits that include improved cognition, reduced anxiety, and many more.

Interactive Exercises

Most people think of group exercise as performing certain routines in a repetitive motion for a certain amount of weight, repetitions, and sets. While in certain class formats that may work, it does not always have to be that way. For most of my exercise classes, I mainly focus on exercises that mirror our activities of daily living (ADLs), and also include sequences that incorporate the mind/body connection. The National Institute for Health (NIH) has an extensive list of various exercises that are both interactive, and ways to focus the class on functionality. Nontraditional balance exercises such as ankle spelling and ball tosses will keep your members guessing both physically and cognitively.

Make sure to use these strategies to spice up your senior living community exercise classes! Keep an open mind when trying out new things in your classes; see what works, and spice things up! 

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Topics: senior living communities balance senior fitness resident wellbeing group fitness music quality of life