EVANSVILLE — When you get to a certain age it's no longer about bodybuilding or body sculpting, says Sharon Alvey, director of the activities center at the Southwestern Indiana Regional Council on Aging.
"It's about flexibility. Stretching and toning ... increasing range of motion (in order to accomplish life's simple tasks like putting on clothes)," she said.
Even exercising the hands and fingers is important to the total quality of life among the Tri-State's vintage citizens: Shirts and blouses have buttons, after all.
BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press Bob Nelson, left, and others march in place as they do an hour-long cardio workout at the SWIRCA Stretch and Tone Exercise class.
BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press Kristin Hood leads an exercise class at the Southwestern Indiana Regional Council on Aging facilities in Evansville. Hood starts everybody with some seated stretching and warm-ups.
BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press The SWIRCA Stretch and Tone Exercise class meets twice a week at the Virginia Street Center in Evansville from 10:30 to 11 am Wednesday and Fridays.
Tom Rutledge uses light weights as he exercises at SWIRCA. Rutledge and his wife Francis both attend the twice weekly sessions.
BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press Shirley Kinsey squeezes a ball as part of the SWIRCA Stretch and Tone Exercise class. The exercises in the class are tailored specifically for seniors.
For some, "Even getting in and out of a chair can be a big thing," said Sharon Campese, SilverSneakers Senior Advisor at the YMCA in Downtown Evansville.
There also is the prevailing need to maintain cardio-fitness, and the connection between physical and mental health, both women said.
To these ends, SWIRCA, the YMCA and several area churches now offer a wide variety of fitness programs for seniors -- from chair aerobics to line dancing.
SWIRCA's programs are available to anyone over age 60, Alvey said; there is a free-will offering.
The YMCA Healthways SilverSneakers Fitness program (at both locations in Evansville and in Henderson) is a collaboration between Medicare Supplement and Advantage plans and service providers such as the YMCA.
"We are the conduit," said Healthways Inc. Account Manager Holly Olson.
"Healthways is a wellness company" she explained. "We partner with Medicare Supplement and Advantage plans (including AARP) to give health benefits to Medicare recipients."
The plans pay for their members to join SilverSneakers programs although anyone can participate for a small fee, Campese said.
The guiding philosophy is that exercise can decrease and even reverse the development of many underlying health issues, including arthritis, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar, Olson said.
Campese says that unlike conventional fitness programs, senior programs do not push participants to do anything they can't do or shouldn't do, such as deep knee bends for people who have had knee or hip replacement surgeries.
"And we never get down on the floor, not even for yoga.
"We want everyone to get a good workout and have a good time," she said, adding that there is a strong social component to the programs, too. Once a month the group gets out for a social activity -- an Otters game, or a restaurant meal, for instance.
"People really begin to care about one another. They worry when someone is missing," Campese said. "They call or send cards."
This social aspect runs through all of the fitness programs at the YMCA and SWIRCA, said Alvey, who added that some of the most popular, well-attended classes SWIRCA offers are erudite disciplines like Yoga and Tai Chi where as many as 50 to 60 people may show up.
"And then they stay for lunch ... and for afternoon social activities," Alvey said.
"Loneliness can be an issue among seniors," said Campese. "We are in here working hard but we are having a blast.
"There is a lot of laughter."
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