February 26, 2006

By: Maxwell Stone
Website: http://www.1st-in-fitness.com

Chair aerobics offers beginning exercise opportunity

Chair Aerobics, a new service of Flambeau Hospital, Park Falls, provides a safe beginning exercise program for older adults or individuals recovering from illness or injury or who have other physical challenges.

Offered at 11 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Park Falls Public Library starting this month, participants perform exercises while seated and/or use a chair for stability, according to Laura Slaby, CSCS, Flambeau Hospital health and fitness specialist. These classes, as well as yoga/pilates and ball exercise, are part of a program called Healthy Mind, Body, and Spirit, a wellness service of Flambeau Hospital.

“It’s an absolute beginning exercise class,” Slaby said. “Whether you’ve not exercised at all, haven’t exercised for a year or longer, or don’t know much about exercise, it is a slow-paced learning-oriented program.”

Slaby, who also teaches yoga and water exercises as hospital services, said older adults are “a fun group. They know they have to keep moving or they’ll feel their joints tightening up. They also know they need exercise to be a regular aspect of their life to stay independent.”

“Older exercisers ask lots of questions about how activities relate to their lives,” Slaby added. “They keep me on my toes.”

The 30- to 45-minute class combines the three components critical in any exercise program: cardiovascular workout, strengthening and flexibility training.

“We do a little bit of all of them,” Slaby said. “It’s important to get the heart rate up for older adults for cardiovascular health. We work out with light dumbbells to prevent osteoporosis and stretching improves their range of motion. We don’t want participants to get tighter muscles than they already have. It’s total body movement.”

Exercise is “extremely important, she added. “If you don’t exercise and don’t use what you have, you can get a really quick decline that can lead to a nursing home stay or hospitalization, depending on your health. The longer you keep mobile and move around, the longer you may be able to stay in your own house, buy your own groceries, carry your packages yourself.”

What is exciting for her as an exercise specialist is the progress that older adults experience in even a six-week class. Studies have shown that through strength training, they can increase their strength and flexibility by 150 percent during that time.

“It can be the difference between a wheelchair and walking,” she said.

The Chair Aerobics class costs $25 for the six-week period or $3 a class. For more information or to enroll, call Slaby at 715-762-7431.

The Marshfield Clinic system provides patient care, research and education with 41 locations in northern, central, eastern and western Wisconsin, making it one of the largest comprehensive medical systems in the United States.

Author Notes:

Maxwell Stone contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-fitness.com.  A source of information and helpful tips on various types of fitness equipment.