You can get healthier and build connections with others in group fitness classes (at Performance 360) or water aerobics (at the YMCA). Another great thing to explore is low impact training designed for active older adults. At Performance 360, we put a huge focus on active aging and mindful movement! Our senior fitness classes are designed to keep you moving, balanced, active & healthy.

Get fit to improve your quality of life in retirement! These should be your best years. Enjoy them!

Exercise and fitness has been shown to increase mental alertness and personal happiness as well as physical fitness. The value of exercise for seniors goes well beyond merely a focus on physical health, just as it does for everyone else.

The simplest exercise for seniors is walking; an hour a day hiking on easy trails, or walking with a pet or with a companion is one of the best daily exercises available.

Seniors interested in this most basic exercise need to develop a walking routine. This may mean a regular daily walk to a restaurant or coffee shop that is far enough away from home. Joining the gym allows you to walk or bike indoors, away from the elements safely.

Benefits of Exercise for Seniors

Exercise keeps you strong and nimble and helps you avoid falls— which is one of the biggest causes of the need to move into a retirement or nursing home. Exercise is also shown to have other benefits including maintaining mental acuity, beneficial in fighting viruses as well as boredom and depression, and of course, it maintains or improves self- confidence and personal happiness!

Check out the gym for some excellent simple exercises perfectly suited for seniors who want to remain agile and strong. Here at Performance 360 we have 10+ personal fitness experts who specialize in active aging, balance, and mobility.

Improve stability through balance training.

A simple exercise to train balance in integration with multiple senses:

1. Walk down a long straight hallway with one hand touching the wall, but walk as if you were walking on a tight rope. Feel the way your ligaments and abdomen tighten slightly as you make shorter steps.

2. Turn and walk down the hallway again, this time keeping your feet closer together, with toes consistently touching heel of the foot in front.

3. You can make this even more difficult by walking down the hallway in the same way while turning your head from side to side. This can be tricky at any age as your senses rely on the visual signal.

Heel and toe raises:

1. Stand behind a chair, grabbing the back of the chair, with your feet together but not touching.
2. Do ten repetitions with a 3 second pause and you’ll feel it in the back of the calf muscles.
3. Now stand on your heels, stretching the arch of the foot, lower back down then repeat this stretch for up to ten repetitions.

In the first set of reps, you are rising and lowering steadily but in the second set, you are emphasizing balancing on your heels. As we get into some warmer weather, other examples of great exercise activities include golf, which involves plenty of walking, as well as the exercise of hitting the ball or pickelball or tennis for cardio and hand-eye coordination.

Tai Chi, a low impact exercise regimen with a huge focus on breath work and balance, can be done indoors or outdoors.

As always, in any weather, working out is the typical way of exercising and seniors find that this is a great time to socialize. Senior exercise is a fundamental way to remain active for amazing quality of life!