Regional exercise class trends series, Part II.
In today’s health clubs, gym owners are leading exercise fitness trends by creating spaces for community, mental health, and rehabilitative exercise with the support of local universities. In this blog, we discussed how they are responding to our communal need for healthier social interactions throughout our lifetimes.
1. Embracing the SilverSneakers crowd
Tera Harvard, owner of DeWitt Wellness Center in DeWitt, Michigan, never intended to become a gym owner. But when the local YMCA closed, she decided to reopen it as a service to the tight-knit community. Today, half of the members hold Silver Sneakers memberships. “The whole reason we opened was to help the community. They were so sad when the Y closed,” she continued.
Michigan’s long winters are difficult for older people, she says. Their social and emotional health is affected and they look for somewhere to go. The YMCA was that place. By reopening the gym, she carved out a healthy option for their lives.
Her gym now offers a mix of classes including senior fitness. All her classes are heavily attended by older members.
Indeed, as the community’s grown closer, they’ve embraced the national sport of pickleball. Now her two racquetball courts may play host to a winter league.
2. Refining fitness through university partnerships
Michelle Hasting’s gym community reflects the small-town dynamics of rural Washington State. Classes at The Club Total Balance Fitness range from WARRIOR Rhythm to power spin complete with techno music, party lights and weights. Yet, at the heart of the 1,400-member gym is a program called “Healthy For Life” (HFL). The senior-focused classes originated from a partnership with Washington State Community College’s, “Stay Active and Independent For Life” (SAIL) program. Washington State Department of Health sponsored the evidence-based exercise program to reduce falls among seniors while branding it as a way to stay active and independent.
The SAIL classes held at The Club frequently attracted more than 30 people per-class prior to the pandemic. Unfortunately, the college shut down its’ SAIL program during COVID.
Members were not happy and called Hasting asking for a substitute. In response, Hasting’s team designed their own senior fitness choreography. This time incorporating gentle yoga.
Today, The Club’s HFL and HFL 2.0 classes attract a dozen or more seniors as well as younger people facing physical limitations. SAIL sponsored classes are also offered once-a-week. Prior to her collaboration with the local university, Hastings had never worked with seniors. “The impact they have on us as instructors, is wonderful. They are a very appreciative, loyal group of people,” she explains.
3. Exploring the relationship between meditation, holistic health, and the science of physical fitness.
Abbe Hockaday of Dallas, Georgia may be one of the most creative thinkers in fitness today. Her gym, Abb’s Muscle & Fitness with locations in Dallas and Rockmart, Georgia, are old-school power lifting paradises with a holistic twist.
Despite the all iron in the gyms, Hockaday believes real fitness begins with the non-physical. The mental, emotional, and social must align to maintain a healthy body.
Our head, heart, and body must be in the game.
To live her beliefs, this former C-Suite human resources executive practices meditative, intentional fitness with her personal training clients and has established a partnership with her alma mater Auburn University and its School of Kinesiology.
Staff from the kinesiology department and gym owner meet once a month, rotating between locations. The collaboration is leading to grant applications for specialty training and the start of classes combining the science behind physical therapy with the realm of holistic, meditative mindfulness.
Indeed, the Kinesiology leaders explained that if people paid more attention to their walking and what they were doing (at the time), they could decrease fall risks substantially.
So maybe, let’s focus on the here and now to create stability for future actions?
Her senior fitness classes incorporate low impact exercise and stretching components. In addition, the classes utilize yoga benches with bands, yoga ball chairs and benches, among other equipment.
4. An exercise fitness trend without the sweat – just a good conversation
Hockaday’s Rockmart location is among her greatest investments in this commitment to holistic health. The gym includes a 1,200 square foot Asian-inspired “coffee office,” with live plants and a gurgling fountain. The calm setting offers visitors Nitro Coffee, comfy furniture, and the time to meet with a life coach or engage in group conversations. Giving members access to a mobile spa is in the plans, too. In the “Coffee Office” members visualize transformation, embrace healthier habits, and discuss the nonphysical aspects of fitness. Because, as Hockaday found with personal training, if a person is not ready to change their habits, there’s going to be an internal or external fight.
“We are meeting with people to improve their quality of life,” she explains, “My life’s goal is to work myself out of a job.” Sure, come join us for exercise, she says. But make it a lifestyle change by helping yourself be better.
Exercise Fitness Trends Conclusion
Thank you for reading our series on exercise fitness trends. How exciting to watch fitness expand and grow beyond simply the physical to a remedy for the whole person. Join us next week when we write about how individually owned gyms help their communities grow and prosper.
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