Senior Fitness
Fauja Singh will be the oldest man ever to line up for the London Marathon.
Competition in the senior age groups is growing. Of 33,000 finishers in last year’s race, 1,130 were over 60; more than 6,000 competitors take part in the biannual World Masters Athletics championships. © 2005 PTI.
Chita Rivera began studying dance when she was 11, and 63 years later she’s still dancing professionally at 74.
I was running across the Verazzano Bridge at the beginning of the NYC Marathon a couple of years ago and I met Fauja Singh, he is now 94. He holds the Worlds record for 90 plus years, running the Toronto Marathon in 5 hours and 40 minutes! How fabulous is that!
I have been teaching a Senior Fitness program for eight years and I love it! My oldest senior right now is 89 years old.
The misconception seems to be that we stop being able to exercise when we age, and nothing could be further from the truth! Seniors can improve their fitness levels by the same percentage as teenagers.
My senior program has resistance, aerobic, and stretching: resistance training being so important for keeping our bones strong as we age, aerobic training, important, to keep our hearts healthy. and stretching to keep our bodies moving and in balance.
Helen Clark is ACE Certified for over 10 years.