3 minute read
MAC Seniors Improve Fitness With Aquatics
With 44% of the MAC membership over 50 years of age, it is only fitting that the club provides many programs for seniors to continue their lifelong fitness quest as they age. One area that has many classes for staying fit and improving health is Water Exercise, headed by Lisa Best. Classes include Water Aerobics, Aqua Pilates, Water Running, and Walking.
For anyone needing to rehab from a joint replacement or just wanting to try a water class, adaptive aquatics is a great option. The Water Pilates class is a fun way to improve balance, posture, movement, alignment, and core strength. Water Aerobic classes start at 6 a.m. and go throughout the day. Deep/shallow, cardio, moderate, or high-intensity classes are offered daily, including Saturday.
The Pool Pals is a group made up of mostly 7 a.m. water aerobics attendees that was formed about 10 years ago by Stephanie Sachtler and former member Anne Booth. It has grown to more than 65 people who attend class daily, meet for coffee and chat after class, hold a breakfast in the Sports Pub on the first Tuesday of each month to celebrate birthdays, go to movies together, host happy hours at each other’s houses, and even travel together. This group also volunteers for MAC functions, from Halloween candy distribution at Trunk or Treat to setting tables for the Holiday Tea. Most of these relationships grew through the water classes. The Pool Pals are open to anyone in the MAC community. Just attend a class, introduce yourself, and ask to be included in the roster of contact information for all the members.
Barbara Giesy, a 52-year MAC member who turned 90 in June, is just one example of many members who use the water classes and other MAC programs to pursue lifelong fitness and healthy longevity goals. Over the years, she attended many stretch, strength, yoga, and Pilates classes, but for the past eight years, the Pool Pals and the Bobby Burke walking group have become a big part of her life. These fitness activities prepare her for summers with her family and friends at Elk Lake, where she walks the trails around the lake or nearby mountains. The cool, clear glacier waters offer a daily cold plunge and are ideal for paddling her kayak.
Giesy says her nursing background and experience around disability, aging, and hospice care have helped her prepare for aging. However, it is MAC’s endless possibilities for fitness, social, and lifestyle programs that make it possible to achieve her goal of living a long life at its maximum potential. She is a wonderful example of what it’s like to be fit and 90!
The MAC website or At Your Service can provide a list of all the Aquatics classes.
Please join us; we’d love to get to know you.
— Meridel Prideaux, 50-Year Member
