PROGRAM FIT FOR SENIORS
  Grand View’s Strength Training for Seniors class
  focuses on balance, strength and coordination.        
  The Intelligencer— Wednesday,  February 21, 2001

WEST ROCKHILL — When you think of exercise, pictures of muscle-bound men and svelte-waisted women come to mind.

It’s time to change that image. And that’s exactly what’s happening each Monday and Wednesday afternoon as sweat-suited seniors pump out arm curls and leg lifts at Grand View Hospital’s Strength Training for Seniors class.

“When you get to a certain age you don’t exercise enough,” said Ginny Dougherty of Sellersville, who began taking the class several years ago when her waistline began to expand. “It keeps me agile. I can breathe easier and I’ve lost 20 pounds.”

With “My Boyfriend’s Back” playing on the boombox, the seniors warm up their muscles with simple marches and stretches. “Remember, if it hurts, stop doing it,” instructor Donna Duckworth frequently reminded her students.

Dougherty had her doubts in the beginning when Duckworth brought out some of the equipment, like the exercise ball, used to increase strength and balance.

“When I saw that ball, I told Donna there was no way I was getting on that thing, but now I can do it with no problem.”

Duckworth leads the class through series of exercises for the arms and legs using light hand-held weights.

“Seniors are at risk for falling, so we work on balance, strength and coordination, “ said Duckworth. “Strength training also increases bone mass, which helps to fight osteoporosis.”

She places an emphasis on wrist exercises, to aid in turning doorknobs, and squats that simulate getting up from a chair, which can be both tricky for seniors, she said. They work their abdominal muscles without doing a single sit-up or crunch. The miracle exercise: laughter, most stemming from their comical lack of coordination.

“Breathe in, breathe out? I’m lucky I can breathe at all,” commented one exerciser, eliciting a chuckle from her classmates.

“When they come week after week, they get to know each other,” said Duckworth. “This is their social group, it’s their enjoyment.”

For Anna and Lester Bieler of Red Hill, it is a way to ease a devastating disease. Lester was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease a decade ago, which cuts off the lines of communication between his brain and muscles.

“Lester needed the exercise and I need it too,” said Anna, who perhaps got more of a workout than her classmates did.

With each new exercise Duckworth introduced, Anna jumped out of her chair to help Lester maneuver his disobedient limbs, patting his shoulder when he got his arm curl right.

“We’ve been in class for three years,” Anna said. “When he exercises he can move better; he can get out of a chair. And I think he enjoys it.”

Strength Training for Seniors meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. until April 4 in the community room. A new eight week session will begin later in April.

For information, call Grand View Hospital at (215) 453-4000.

—By Kelly Madsen, Staff Writer

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