On Top of the World

from 2021 Winter Ideal-LIVING

SaddleBrooke Two Communities

Founded in 1947, Florida’s premier 55+ community, On Top of the World, has a long history of rolling with the times — and this pandemic is no exception.

“On Top of the World encourages an active aging lifestyle by describing a person’s physical, emotional, and social wellness as one age, so to our fitness professionals, age is just a number,” says Jordan Litherland, marketing account executive. “Overall wellness is so important to remaining healthy that it is a big part of residents’ lifestyles, which we encourage at our four state-of-the-art fitness centers, along with multiple tennis and pickleball courts, outdoor fitness “power” parks, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and so much more. Throughout COVID-19, our team of fitness directors and trainers rallied quickly to implement Facebook Live events showcasing fitness classes to ensure residents were still getting their heart rate pumping from the comfort of their home.”

The community’s “Fitness on Demand” program, created prior to the onset of COVID-19, became an invaluable tool. Through Fitness on Demand, residents have a library of prerecorded fitness classes for all skill levels at their fingertips. Tablets are located in On Top of the World’s gyms, and residents pick whatever fitness class they want to follow on a large-screen TV and follow the workout. The studios where Fitness on Demand is offered are large enough to socially distance six to eight people safely. “COVID-19 truly showcased the phenomenal fitness team here as they worked to create new and innovative virtual programming to keep everyone physically active and socially engaged throughout the pandemic,” Litherland says.

The community also launched a new campaign, #TogetherButApart, that focused on the idea that members and staff would get through this together, even though they had to stay apart. “It’s all about keeping people engaged with each other, so we created fun, interactive things for our residents to do, such as throwing a patio party at their home, while your next door neighbor threw a patio party!” Litherland says. “We encouraged residents to listen to music, eat, drink, and be merry on their patio as their neighbors were doing the same at the same time. Many residents submitted selfies to a specific email domain so they could share some positive happenings while seeing friends and neighbors enjoying life as well.”

Together but apart