Group Exercise Classes for Ageing Populations

“That’s Betty. Bless her, she doesn’t move much but she comes. She is nearly 90”.

Dawn was right, Betty getting to the exercise class was doing her a whirlwind of favours.

She was leaving the house, for starters.

She was in a group environment, full of energy.

She was chatting to some gym pals.

She was enjoying the uplifting music. Who can’t swing their hips to a bit of ABBA?

And she did a few marches and picked up a weight or two - I think Betty can be excused for not squatting as deep as her class counterparts, who were up to a quarter of her age.

Exercising helps hugely to prevent falls, which are a significant reason behind a loss of mobility for older people.

The part that I, as an instructor, love to see the most? When the class members go for coffee after.

One of the few situations where a complete mix of society meet and have a natter over a hot brew.

We all live such isolated lives, tied to our screens and actually there is no replacement for group connection. In the form of group exercise classes, running clubs or team sports.

“My stocky friends look great now”, an octogenarian shouts at to me.

“They have always wanted to go to the gym and now they are strong.

“It is the naturally slim ones who are frail now.”

By 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. This stuff matter.

A longer life brings with it opportunity, but it all relies on one thing; health, otherwise physical suffering can limit opportunities and experiences.

We are now in the UN decade of healthy ageing as they aim to change mindsets surrounding age.

‘It keeps me young and justifies the glasses of wine’, Dawn says as she jabs her weights out at me.

Dawn is not wrong. And, after all, as the book says; ‘Lifespan without joy results in a long but empty life’.