SilverSneakers meets seniors at their own fitness level

Ask Logan Lukowski, certified Anytime Fitness personal trainer and SilverSneakers certified instructor, who ran a SilverSneakers group class for over a year.

“They were a blast. We would incorporate weights like dumbbells into the movement, almost like a dance-style.”

Weights? For seniors?

“It was moderate. Two or five pound weights. Everyone worked at their own pace.”

Lukowski was impressed. “With the SilverSneakers certification, you’re only supposed to have so many times going up and down, so many steps. And you’re supposed to have chairs with it. When I started pulling the chairs out they said, ‘Uh, we don’t use chairs.’ ”

Improvement is possible at any age, says Lukowski. “People underestimate themselves. They think at a certain age they can’t make physical improvements or build muscle anymore, but that’s not true. I have a client who is 95 who is still putting on muscle.”

With eight locations, Anytime Fitness offers three SilverSneakers group classes a week. “I tell them bring a friend. If they’re not a member, they can get a seven-day pass and try it out.”

Eligibility for SilverSneakers depends on specific Medicare coverage, specifically a qualifying private plan, such as Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement. Visit tools.silversneakers.com to see whether you qualify.

SilverSneakers is the brainchild of Mary Swanson, who founded the program in 1992 after her father survived a heart attack. The first chair-based SilverSneakers classes were launched in Arizona and quickly gained popularity.

By 1996, the program had expanded to 15 locations across Arizona and by 2004 had reached 1,000 locations nationwide. Two years later, a yoga program was introduced, and SilverSneakers partnered with Medicare Advantage plans. By 2008, the network had expanded to 10,000 facilities. Today, the program offers a wide range of virtual and on-demand classes as well as covering annual gym memberships.

SilverSneakers member Sharon Strbjak, 76, of Winfield, works out at Anytime Fitness on Broadway in Crown Point.

“I usually carpool with a friend and that’s a motivating factor. The least I can do is get up and join her.”

Strbjak appreciates that the program accommodates physical limitations. “They make adjustments, they say do as much as you can. This is how you can alter it in case you have bad knees, hips or back.”

The social aspect of classes fuel the physical and mental health of seniors. “You feel so much better after you go to class. We push each other, but not to the point where we’re mean.”

“I love SilverSneakers,” says Lori Joyce, 72. An avid walker and golfer, Joyce has been taking SilverSneakers’ online and group classes since 2016 — even when she vacations in Florida. “I have my cell phone or laptop. I go on the SilverSneakers site and do those, too.”

She’s a big fan of light-weight resistance. “At my age, weights are really good to stay fit.”

Sharon Lee of Winfield works out five days a week, at 76. She visits two gyms and has her benefit through a program called Renew Active with UnitedHealthcare. “Some companies have dropped SilverSneakers.” Lee says. “They had they’re own criteria of where you go. New insurance offers different incentives.

“I go to the YMCA. They have a lot more to offer for seniors.” The Crossroads YMCA in Crown Point has a roster of activities for active older adults.

“I take a cycling class four days a week and on Thursdays I go to Anytime Fitness. They have several classes — Slimnastics, HIIT bar, they have Zumba Gold, cardio drumming.”

Some of these classes draw around 40 people, including a 90-year-old classmate.

“You do what you can,” she says. “I don’t go down on the mat because I get dizzy. We use weights or bands. I use two pounds.”

Lee appreciates that the instructors at the YMCA listen and make changes when seniors speak up. “We wanted to hear oldies but goodies and work out to that. That’s what gets us moving.”

Cheryl Sublette of Lansing uses her Illinois membership to take free classes at the Hammond YMCA. “They have a class called Ener-Chi,” she says. “It’s Tai chi.”

Most YMCAs partner with this program, but coverage remains specific to individual branches.

"Our senior community really enjoys that they can come to our facility to take one of our classes that improve strength, mobility and balance, and then participate in a social gathering in the same location,” says Julianne Schager, director of Healthy Living at Duneland Family YMCA, a SilverSneakers facility. “We offer everything from lunches to art classes, to outings and special presentations with relevant topics pertaining to their physical and mental well-being."