Halifax YMCA program helps get seniors moving

When 75-year-old Beth Boudreau heard about the YMCA LiveWell program, it sounded like just the right idea at the right time.

“With COVID-19, I’d been hibernating at home, and I really wasn't getting out and doing my exercises,” she says.

So she contacted the program, underwent an initial fitness assessment, and was off to her classes.

“I love the fact that you're challenged, that you have people who help you decide to work on being fit,” says Boudreau.

Program assistants showed her how to use gym equipment and hand weights, all part of helping participants feel comfortable and safe.

“Maybe you're completely new to it or you haven't done it in a long time, there's always a place to start,” says YMCA LiveWell provincial lead and clinical exercise physiologist Joy Chiekwe.

She says the initial fitness assessment is key in making sure seniors get the most out of the program.

“To make sure that when you come into your classes, that one, you're put into the right class for your abilities and your limitations,” says Chiekwe, “so when you are in those classes we can modify any exercises, so again, you feel safe and confident to progress over time.”

Tim Houck, 64, signed up for the program along with his wife, who was referred by her health practitioner after going through breast cancer.

Houck, who has Parkinson’s disease, says he had his own goal with the program.

“I was really concerned about my balance and my core strength, so those are things I’m looking to work on,” he says.

He says a follow-up assessment has shown he has made significant progress.

“If you're on the fence, get off the fence and get out. It's the best thing I could have ever done,” he says.

Health experts say more seniors need to follow Houck and Boudreau’s lead.

In 2019, a Canadian Health Measures survey found only one-in-three older adults are engaging in Health Canada’s recommended 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week.

Chiekwe says making sure seniors stay active is important to not only manage chronic conditions and health problems, but also for prevention.

“Falls, hip, knee replacements, diabetes -- if we can get them exercising now and long-term, we will see a huge change in their health care,” she says.

On top of those benefits, it appears that along with all the dumbbell arm curls and knee crunches comes something else: comradery.

“My wife, she's enjoying coming out to the classes,” says Houck, “and it's about the socialization as well as the exercise.”

“It's just the friends that you meet, and we're all working together, to continue to be fit so that we go on a little farther in our life and do all the things that we still like to do,” adds Boudreau.

The program is holding a free senior fitness assessment day on Friday at the John W. Lindsay YMCA on Sackville Street in Halifax from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Advance registration is recommended by calling [phone] or sending an email to [e-mail].