Northgate Lions Senior Citizens Recreation Centre

Purpose:

At the Northgate Lions Senior Citizens Recreation Centre in Northeast Edmonton, fitness is the name of the game! We pride ourselves in promoting mental as well as physical fitness...and add a social component for good measure!

Activities:

Fitness opportunities come in many forms. Being firm believers in providing them to all of our members, we have a multitude of courses. For the more frail elderly, we have sessions called "Be Fit While You Sit" in which participants, seated on firm chairs, do bending, stretching, and range of motion movements. This class is fairly new to our Centre but numbers are increasing weekly. A lady who had taken the classes for three weeks proudly demonstrated to staff that she could raise her arm above her head which she had not been able to do for years!

On Mondays and Thursdays, we have a course called "Fun n' Fitness" which is basically a seniors aerobics class, done to lively music and interspersed with the sounds of laughter! This class is for more active seniors but members are encouraged to participate at their own level of fitness. An extremely popular course that we run is called "Fit For Your Life". Fashioned from a model out of Boston, this course consists mainly of weight training with hand and ankle weights. It is also an extremely enjoyable class! One of the participants told the instructor that she had recently seen her doctor who asked her what physical activities she was currently involved in, and who remarked that he could see an improvement in her bone density tests!

We run six "Stretch Tone n' Yoga" classes per week. We originally called them "Yoga" but changed the name because the instructor incorporates a lot of stretching movements into her class (which the name implies) rather than strictly "Yoga", which could be intimidating to some seniors. These classes are always oversubscribed. We also have evening yoga classes for people who are still in the work force.

Twice weekly, we run a program called "Soak n' Social" which is an aquasize group run at Londonderry Leisure Centre. The music is lively, the movements are gentle, and the laughter is plenty!

On Fridays, we have Tai Chi classes in which slow gentle movements challenge the brain as well as the body. In the Spring, we will be running a course we call "Get On The Ball!" in which large inflatable balls will be used to give seniors increased muscle strength and stamina. Our instructors are experts in the field of working with the older population. They provide guidance, support, expertise and a whopping dose of humor along the way!

Badminton is very popular. Four times a week, players challenge each other in lively combat. These individuals are fit, competitive and robust.

It seems logical to end here. But it is not. One must not forget that several of our courses are not in the name of fitness, but certainly could be. Square dancing, Clogging, Round dancing, and Line dancing for example, are wonderful courses which provide many of the components of wellness for seniors. Looking good, listening and responding to the caller, and being physically fit are all necessary.

Success:

The staff at the Centre is extremely proud of what we provide for seniors. It may be termed "recreation" but those in our field are secure in the knowledge that it is really "preventative medicine"!

Judy Salamandick
Program Co-ordinator
Northgate Lions Senior Citizens Recreation Centre
7524 - 139 avenue T5C 3H7
fax: 496-4707
e-mail: judy.salamandick@gov.edmonton.ab.ca