Sure exercise can leave you in pain sometimes, especially if you push yourself, which is what you should be doing.
Yes injuries happen, however, we can’t sit on the sofa forever! People trip in their homes every day, break bones, sprain ankles. Good news is, if you are fit, most likely if you fall, you will only get a bruise. Your bones with withstand the fall!
For sure AGING HURTS!
Sickness, Stiffness, Forgetfulness, Lack of Energy, Depression, Social Isolation…..need I go on?
Take your pick!
How do you see yourself aging?
Healthy good workout discomfort, with extra happy endorphins? Feeling 10 years younger than your real age everyday?
OR
Daily pain from a sedentary lifestyle, increases your chances to acquire a deadly disease?
Daily activity is necessary for our bodies to stay healthy as we age. If you are interested in avoiding diseases attached to aging; e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia etc…. you must follow an active lifestyle daily! Activity combined with good eating habits, and plenty of rest, means aging doesn’t have to turn into a daily trip to the medicine cabinet!
Start with walking, biking, swimming, yard work etc….
Most of us do our best to have healthy eating habits. Who doesn’t love that piece of cake, a new cold brew, or a Starbucks Latte? Not to mention the holidays with friend and family, eating great high calorie foods, and high calorie drinks.
After all, we need to live a little! Right?
This brings us to why we need to add more structured exercises to our daily habits. If you have good daily movements habits; e.g. swimming, walking, biking, jogging, yard work, that is great! However you need more! Or let’s say, you need to do these things with a lot of Intention to improve specific health goals.
I bring this subject up as a student of mine reminded me of why she continues to attend multiple classes after 4 or 5 years. It’s not that she is in love with exercise. She has accepted exercise because she knows it will keep her body in better condition helping her to age with grace, less pain, and more social activity. She has learned, participating within group fitness classes, she is putting her mental thinking skills to the test, while her cognitive skills are always improving. She looks forward to the social connection, that she doesn’t dread the workout sweating. Catching up on the little tidbits of life with other students, sharing opinions, talking about the news, all of this provides many great conversations for her. Some of the classes force her to stay focused so she can follow. This is difficult for us all as we age making it that much more important to our mental skill sets. Thinking and executing the moves to music, staying on beat, listening to the instructors calls. All of these things help to remove the attention roadblock we are faced with daily, helping us to keep our minds working! This is healthy aging…
Thank you Candace, it’s an important message to share!
According to the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation, regular physical exercise can reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by up to 50 percent. Exercise protects against Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia by stimulating the brain’s ability to maintain old connections as well as make new ones.
Can exercise prevent memory loss and improve cognitive function? Possibly…Exercise has many known benefits,including reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, strengthening the bones and muscles, while reducing stress. It also appears that regular physical activity benefits the brain.
Independent fitness is great! It proves you have the drive necessary to take care of yourself, you don’t need someone pushing you to stay fit. It’s better then nothing, however, the newest research has proven those who face social isolation have an increased risk for acquiring Dementia/Alzheimer’s as they age. Dementia is a disorder which causes memory loss.
The reasons above are why many people attach themselves to group exercise. Why not? We are all working towards the same thing, to age with a healthy grace, to avoid sickness. The last years are suppose to be the golden years right?
Group exercise feeds our minds by giving us the social connection necessary to help our minds stay healthy. Group exercise is designed for students to have fun, laugh,sweat,and connect. Ok, some might cry…no worries they quickly stop, tears turn to tears of joy especially when class is done!
At the end, you feel a new level of success knowing you did the right thing to take care of yourself.Your happy endorphins take over and your day will feel like you are walking on clouds! If you workout at night, you will sleep like a baby! Goodbye sleeping pills!
Learn more about our classes with the New Trier Adult Extension Program
Click on each class below to learn more details for each class style and to see our class gallery!
It is with great sadness the Sunrise Bootcamp will no longer be offered through the New Trier Extension. The legacy will live forever with each and every participant, as some students attended this class for decades. With the end of this class there is a new beginning, as we expand our evening class options at both campuses. We are actively looking for a location to hold additional fitness classes, which will be offered for mornings, and afternoons. With the new time offerings we hope to provide more options for the retired senior population, or for those who do not work outside of the home. Thank you to each and every students who dedicated themselves to Sunrise Bootcamp! The memories will always be cherished with a huge smile and a big laugh forever!
BOOTCAMP
Some people might think it is to early, to difficult to attend, however, many students talk about the luxury of getting out of the house before anyone is awake. Many students have been attending class so long once they retired from work, they continue to attend this class. They like knowing it gets them up and out of bed for the day, just as if they were still working. Our ages range from 30 to 80 in this class! Our workout days hold a variety of exercise opportunities; Kickbox, Cardio Interval Training, Jogging/Speed Walking, Stepping, Weight Training, and stretching! During the summer months you will find us on the pier at Elder Park, stretching as the sun rises over lake Michigan! (it truly brings a new level of mojo to your day!)
This is a whole body workout session designed to tone and sculpt your body and improve your personal fitness level and agility. High energy interval training combinations, strengthening, core for a complete workout that will get you into shape. All levels all ages are welcome! Modifications are offered to all in need.
Be sure to check out the calendar for all of our class listings! To see the class gallery, click here.
New Trier Adult Extension Fitness Classes
PRIMER FLOOR PILATES-CORE STRENGTHENING
Be sure to check out the calendar for all of our class listings! To see the class gallery, click here.
New Trier Adult Extension Fitness Classes
PERSONAL GROUP TRAINING I
This class meets in our Wellness Center,in the F Building at New Trier West, Northfield.Stay Tune! I plan to add another Personal Group Training Phase II! This will provide students with extra gym time!All ages welcome! Be sure to check out the calendar for all of our class listings! To see the class gallery, click here.
New Trier Adult Extension Fitness Classes
STRETCH CLASSES
Stretch classes are the latest trend, sweeping the nation! We began to offer stretch classes in 2018, adding more in every session!
Flexibility is one of the main aspects of physical fitness along with cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance. … We know that this stiffening of the walls of our arteries has been found to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease like heart attack and strokes as well as death.
So many students are report they no longer have back pain when they wake up in the morning. Personally, after severe injuries to my ankle, my knee, and my neck/back, focused stretching has helped me improve to avoid surgery. Most holistic approaches do take time, and you need the patients. The quick fix is not always the right path as there are no guarantees. You may be left in worse shape then you started in, not to mention the dangers of anesthesia and surgery in general. Personally holistic is always the first approach in my opinion.
During a stretch class we move through a series of stretches focusing on all areas of the body. Classes are 45-minutes or 60 minutes depending on the evening. Static stretching is safe stretching, holding a position for 20 to 30 seconds or more if necessary. When you attend a stretch class you want progress and see results, so you can improve your range of motion, decrease pain, and have better balance. We are not looking for pain when we stretch, however, there will be an uncomfortableness if you want to improve your flexibility. We measure pain with the 1 – 10 scale, 1- zero uncomfortableness, 10- highly uncomfortable. You will want to push yourself to 7’s and 8’s if you are going to see improvements.
Most students report an overall improvement after 3-4 classes. Decreased pain throughout all joints and backs.
Did you know at any age you should be able to touch your toes or the floor?
If you can’t touch the floor, you need to be in a stretch class!
Be sure to check out the calendar for all of our class listings! To see the class gallery, click here.
Every workout has modifications for those who are in need of modifying.
New Trier Adult Extension Fitness Classes
PELVIC CORE AND BACK STRENGTH
The pelvic core ball helps people with a variety of pelvic issues. Increasing core strength, working through the 3-Dimensional parts of our body, increasing the strength in your back and flexibility with your knees. Checkout Pelvic Core Solutions to get a glimpse of what this class is all about! Pelvic Core Solutions is a class for both men and women, focusing on strengthening your pelvic girdle and core to increase your mobility, strength, and stability using the specially designed Pelvicore Pro tool along with specific exercises taught by a certified instructor. Weak or imbalanced core muscles can lead to lower back pain, hip pain, knee pain, and pelvic floor dysfunction/incontinence. The pelvic girdle core is composed of your back abdomen, hips, and diaphragm, all of which are inter-connected and strengthened when they are worked together as a unit.
Be sure to check out the calendar for all of our class listings! To see the class gallery, click here. Every workout has modifications for those who are in need of modifying.
New Trier Adult Extension Fitness Classes
OUR NEWEST CLASS, STEP AEROBICS
New Trier Adult Extension Fitness Classes
CARDIO- WEIGHT - TRAINING
New Trier Adult Extension Fitness Classes
Check the Calendar
Click here to go to New Trier Adult Extension Sign Up
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