Chances are, you’ve probably heard a doctor or read an article mention that too much time seated can lead to negative health conditions. Studies have shown that taking breaks may help reduce some of those impacts, and teach our bodies to move better as we age.
Inside the exercise room at Warm Hearth Village, a senior living facility in Blacksburg, Kenny Harrah leads 18 people in a side body stretch.
“Remember, motion’s lotion, rest is rust, and health is wealth,” Harrah tells the class.
The students are all in their 70s, 80s and 90s. This class, called Balance and Gait, helps them strengthen their back muscles and improve balance.
“The upper body’s really helping with their posture, balance and their gaze,” Harrah says.
Using a balance bar, the students adjust their stance as they stretch. Harrah guides them to pay attention to their alignment and posture.
“So that when you’re off balance, you know to correct yourself,” Harrah says. “Well the older we get, we sometimes become numb to that, right? So in this class, particularly in a safe space like this with the balance bar, we can really pay attention, and listen to ourselves at the same time, which helps them once they leave this classroom.”
Harrah says he and several of the students came up with a name for this class: The “Chuckle Bellies.” Because this class isn’t just about physical movement, but also about laughter, and enjoying each other’s company. Or as Karin Corboy explains it, “We carry on more than we exercise.”
For several minutes, they practice moving from a sitting position to standing.
At any age, strengthening and stretching our back muscles can help slow down the degeneration of our spine, says Dr. Mary Mitchell. And this might be even more important than it was for earlier generations.
“With more people being on computers and being in those positions for longer, I’m finding people suffering from back issues at younger ages,” Mitchell says.
Mitchell practices at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and says all those hours we spend slumped at our laptops can weaken back muscles, which leads to the curving of our shoulders.
“And we lose the ability to unknowingly hold ourselves up,” says Mitchell. “Which in turn gives us a higher risk for falling and imbalance issues as we get older.”
Back at Warm Hearth Village, Nancy Leech is practicing standing at the balance bar, shifting her posture so she’s in alignment. She’s been taking this class for five months.
“I mean, these are simple things. And in two weeks, I was moving better,” Leech says. “I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it.”
Leech, who also enjoys singing and playing guitar, tells Harrah with a laugh that she has a new challenge at home.
“And I told him I’m doing a lot of balancing because I have a kitten that I have to watch out for,” Leech says.
She says the best thing about this class, and why she felt motivated to stick with it, is how much they laugh with each other.
“You gotta laugh every day,” Leech says. “Just cause otherwise, you get in a funk. You can really go in a deep hole.”
She says laughter and exercise both helped her get out a funk like that, when she was suffering from Lyme disease.
“My kids can’t believe how fast I can walk now!” Leech says.
After the students practice several more exercises, Harrah stands at the center of the room.
After class, Leech says she plans to go home to practice a song she’s learned on the guitar, and play with her new kitten. In the evening, she may do a little gardening, three things that would have been challenging for her this time last year.
