Cove exercise class helps seniors stay healthy

Wendy Williamson of Cove participates in a weight lifting exercise during a Strong Seniors class session Tuesday. DICK MASON/The Observer

But they were walking quite deliberately for 30 to 40 seconds late Tuesday morning.

Five to 15 pounds wrapped around the ankle tends to take the bounce out of anyone’s gait.

Just ask Megan Shirley. The exercise specialist leads Strong Seniors, a Cove community fitness program for older adults. The class promotes strength and balance in seniors.

“It’s important to focus on strength and balance because they decrease as we age,’’ Shirley said Tuesday after leading a class. “Improving strength and balance decreases the risk of injury and falling. Someone who maintains strength and balance has a better chance of maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle as an older adult.’’

To address the strength issue, Shirley does not have her students pump iron in Charles Atlas fashion. Instead, she has seniors kick sand in the face of Father Time by leading them in a series of weight-bearing exercises.

One exercise involves having class members walk for 30 to 40 seconds after strapping on five to 15 pounds of weights.

Class participants also sit and engage in a series of light weightlifting exercises with their arms.

“The (exercises) look simple, but they are harder than they look,’’ class member Cheryl Roberts said.

Shirley overheard the comment and smiled.

“You make it look easy,’’ she told Roberts.

Shirley, who has a degree in exercise science and nutrition from Linfield College, said that to improve muscle strength people must push themselves slightly past their comfort level.

“You truly have to push yourself to the edge of discomfort and fatigue to benefit from a strength and resistance training program,’’ Shirley said.

It is also best to work slowly. Shirley encourages people to lift weights deliberately because this builds more strength by allowing additional muscle fibers to be used.

The strength training work promotes balance.

A series of exercises specifically address the balance issue. They include a series of lateral movement exercises, which develop muscles that often atrophy because of lack of use in our daily lives.

“We don’t walk laterally while doing housework,’’ Shirley said.

Another balance exercise involves having class participants stand on one leg while holding on to a chair. The balance of some seniors has improved so much since

the Strong Seniors class started 1 1/2 years ago that some class participants no longer need a chair to hold on to while holding one foot off the floor.

Shirley leads all these exercises while engaging the classes in conversations that flow easily throughout the sessions. Tuesday’s discussions included lively banter about the Winter Olympics, which concluded Sunday.

Creating an atmosphere in which people feel comfortable talking to one another is something Shirley considers a major responsibility.

“The social component is important. The more attached people are to friendships (in the class) and the group, the more committed they are to the fitness program,’’ Shirley said.

Commitment to healthy lifestyles is a bond many in the Strong Seniors classes share, one that is yielding dividends.

“The clock is not what says how old you are. It is how young you feel and how we take care of ourselves that matters,’’ Shirley said. “Physically, this group of men and woman is younger than their chronological age because of how they take care of themselves.’’

The Strong Seniors classes are conducted at the Episcopal Church’s Ascension School. The classes, sponsored by Cove Senior Citizens, cost about $3 per session. For information on attending them call 541-568-4589.