By Hadassah Deroiser, Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging intern
Health and fitness are becoming increasingly important topics within Colorado, especially among older adults. According to America’s Health Rankings Senior Report, which collects data on the health of older adults age 65 and older in the United States, Colorado is the top state for exercise and number two in overall health.
While this is a great achievement, Colorado is ranked 28th among the states for the number of falls of people over the age of 65. Two senior fitness specialists are working in the Pikes Peak region to keep older adults strong and resilient through exercise. Shay Gann is a personal trainer at FitBody Studio, and Erin Eleuterio is a group fitness instructor at the Silver Key Senior Center in Monument and specializes in fall resiliency at a senior living community. They are interviewed on Aging with Altitude.
As a personal trainer, Shay incorporates her clients’ interests into their exercise by doing movements that they will use on a regular basis to make exercise fun, and she also does cognitive training throughout her sessions to help keep the brain healthy.
When Erin taught her group classes, she noticed that there were societal expectations set for older adults by catering classes for seniors. Instead, she discussed that classes should be age-neutralized and catered toward skill level. She also explained the importance of fall resiliency because people of all ages fall. It is a part of being human. The term “fall resiliency” is a very empowering term because it acknowledges that everyone will eventually fall, but resiliency focuses on how the person recovers after a fall.
Both Shay and Erin explained that fitness should be fun and that people are only limited by their perception of themselves.