1. Fitness for the Elderly Taylor Price Rowan University
INTRODUCTION: I believe that Planet Fitness should have their trainers add a class in their program that works with senior citizens. Senior citizens would specify as anyone ages 65 and older. The target audience is simply the general population of the Cumberland County area that are over the age of 65. There are many members that fall in this category that are already members of the club, however, they may feel uncomfortable working with a trainer. If they know that we have a class specifically dedicated to them, they may feel more comfortable working with us and getting in some exercise! There is nothing that will benefit them more.
METHODS: I would suggest to offer the class twice a day; once in the morning, and once at night. In this class, we would use light free weights and resistance bands to help strengthen their muscles, and help them train their balance as well! This is a great way to help prevent falls from occurring. I gave them a survey three months in to the program to see how they have progressed.
GOALS/OBJECTIVES:Goal 1: Older adults will learn about why exercise is so important for them.Process Objective: The older adults first class will be a Design Your Own Program session. This will help to create a workout regimen for them.Impact Objective: After this class, more than half of the older adults will want to come back for more sessions because they will want to learn more.
Outcome Objective: More than half of the older adults will continue to exercise for 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days per week.
Goal 2: Elderly people will strengthen their muscles and bone density, and train their balance.Process Objective: I will use stability balls, light weights such as 3 or 5 pound dumbbells, body weight, and resistance bands exercises increase their muscular strength.
Impact Objective: All of the older adults will have strengthened their muscles and bone density which will help prevent their bones from breaking if they do fall.
Outcome Objective: The older adults will have created a consistent schedule for coming to classes with me anywhere between two and five times per week.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: I had 10 older adults from Planet Fitness participate in my program. The older adults need to learn about all benefits that can happen from exercising . This is going to help prevent the older adults from injuring themselves in the future and will prevent falls. For the older adults in my program, they also need reinforcement. If they are putting in all this effort, I cannot let them give up if they are not seeing results right away. At the end of this program, my goal is to get at least half of the older adults participating in my program to continue with regular exercise.
Problem: In Cumberland County, there are nearly 156,000 people, and only 13.6% of them are senior citizens . In 2009, only 36.7% of adults over the age of 65 engage in 30 minutes of moderate physical activity 5 days per week, or 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity at least three days per week .
RESOURCES: (QuickFacts, 2015), (Rutgers, 2009) 1