Fitness programs a vital exercise for Valley seniors

MAT-SU — Valley residents need not cancel their gym memberships or hang up their weights and workout clothes when they turn 60.

A variety of senior fitness classes are available in multiple Mat-Su locations, from Tai Chi for Arthritis to Zumba Gold in Palmer, Wasilla, and midtown.

At Mat-Su Senior Services, Pam Doerr leads Zumba Gold for seniors age 55 and up on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. The only requirements, she said, are to “smile and move” — whether to oldies by The Beatles, rap by Pitbull, or even the chicken dance (by request).

Senior Barbara Carr said she appreciates the class because it’s one of the few that fit with her schedule, as she still works as a substitute teacher almost every school day.

“I just like it … even though I have no rhythm,” Carr said. “It moves me, all my muscles.”

Even though people are welcome to do what movements they can from a chair or stop and rest whenever necessary, Zumba’s not for everyone. Sixty-nine-year-old Dave Lease, who attends the “Young at Heart” class at the MTA Sports Center four days a week, said he skips the Friday Zumba workout there.

“I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time so I don’t do Zumba,” he said.

But the “Young at Heart” class — a full-body, low-impact exercise class for men and women 50 and older — is something that at least keeps him off the couch and “out of trouble,” he said.

“Young at Heart” instructor Mardene Collins, who majored in recreational therapy in college, became certified in group exercise two years ago and last year in senior fitness “as a personal goal,” she said. The more specific certification requires that the instructor “be aware of chronic health issues, pacing, and the varying ability of seniors,” which tends to be greater the older someone gets, she said. Part of her job is also to illustrate “how important exercise is in maintaining cognitive function,” she said.

In-home caregiverSonya Huffman, 58, agreed, speaking on behalf of an organization she works for.

“The Alzheimer’s Resource Center will tell you the No. 1 best thing to do for your brain is exercise,” she said.

Huffman began participating in “Young at Heart” with an 86-year-old patient who would walk laps around the track during the parts of the class she was unable to participate in. Huffman had been a member of the sports center since it opened, and once she stopped seeing the patient, she continued to participate in the class.

“I enjoy this class so much that I keep coming,” she said. “I’m out of breath but it’s fun.”

Although Huffman is old enough to qualify as a senior now by the MTA center’s standards, she said she doesn’t have any lingering injuries that prevent her from being active.

“My generation, there wasn’t a lot of sports for girls … so I don’t have any sports (related) problems,” she said.

But what sports were available for female high school students, she played, as did exercise classmate Jan Thurlow.

Thurlow, 68, said she used to play tennis, basketball, badminton and field hockey in high school. Back then, she was “way more active than I am now,” she said, but she participates in as much of the class as she can — including pickleball.

“I like it because it’s fun and I can do it,” Thurlow said.

But the lighter activity, like stretching, is what helps her the most.

“I don’t tend to stretch and I’m not very flexible, so that's probably the best thing for me,” she said.

Thurlow said she’s been attending group exercise at MTA for three years now, and compliments those classes with workouts at Curves in Wasilla. In each case, engaging in physical activity with her peers is just as valuable as the exercise itself.

“I like the sociability of it, being with people my own age,” she said.

That socialization is also motivation for seniors at Wasilla Area Seniors, Inc. (WASI) to participate in Strong Seniors, a national program sponsored locally by the Mat-Su Cooperative Extension Service. Instructor Karen Harvey calls it “a slow strengthening class” for older or less able seniors who can’t endure rigorous aerobic activity.

Senior Ambassador Bill Engel, who mainly staffs the sign-in desk and uses the machines on his own in the exercise center during class time, said the 10 a.m. session, with an average of 20 people, is the most popular.

“Everybody just loves this class,” he said.

That includes Korean War veteran Carl Tinsley, who sometimes leads the early morning class (not all the time, because he has narcolepsy, and “went to sleep counting” at least once, he said). He’ll exercise during the other classes, too, and always tells jokes or reads words of wisdom in each session.

He couldn’t remember exactly how long he’d been reading from Bob Phillips’ “Encyclopedia of Good Clean Jokes,” but generally gauged that it’s been a while.

“It’s A to Z and I’m onto P now,” he said.

The laughter at chatter Tinsley excites is a big reason why member Jerome Oates Sr. enjoys the class.

“It’s so jolly here,” he said. “Hearing the women talk, talk, talk, I like to listen to them. They say everything, especially when they don’t think there’s a man around.”

Oates, 94, is the only man currently enrolled in the 10 a.m. class, and though quiet, is just as active as his classmates. A retired proctologist and herbalist with sons and daughters in professional fields, he’s kept himself healthier than most.

And he’s come a long way from his rough beginnings in Indiana.

“I was in the ghetto, and not like dope. It was a real ghetto,” he said. “I don’t know if I grew up (there), but I existed.”

Oates wasn’t even in double digits when he began raising his younger siblings and taking care of his mother, blinded by his violent father when Oates was 9-years-old.

“It hasn’t been a bed of roses,” he said.

But he’s satisfied with where he is now, living independently in Big Lake and enjoying exercise classes at the senior center twice a week.

“I come for the exercise and I’m satisfied with that,” he said. “I’m improving.”

To learn more about senior fitness classes in the Valley, contact any of the following facilities:

Mat-Su Senior Services, 1132 S. Chugach St., Palmer

746-5454

Meadow Lakes Seniors, Inc., 1012 N. Kim Dr., Wasilla

357-3999

MTA Sports Center, 1507 N. Double B St., Palmer

746-7529

WASI, 1301 S. Century Cir., Wasilla

376-3104

Willow Haven Senior Housing, 23960 Willow Haven Cir., Willow

495-5222

Upper Susitna Seniors Inc., 16463 E. Helena Dr., Talkeetna

733-6200

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.