LANCASTER, Pa. — A community center in Lancaster is offering fitness classes that are giving seniors a sense of their youth back.
Bright Side Opportunities Center and a special trainer are using weightlifting and exercise to help seniors stay fit.
“Coming here is my lifeline,” said Claire Reich, a 70-year-old member of Bright Side Opportunities Center’s weightlifting, strength, and conditioning classes.
Her doctor advised her to go to these classes after breaking her back in an accident.
“When I came here, I could barely walk around the block. Now, I can walk for miles,” Reich said.
One of Reich’s classmates says she had a sitting job for 15 years before she retired. She says Bright Side has kept her from becoming a couch potato.
“I learned how to eat properly. I’ve lost probably 30 to 40 pounds and kept it off. And that made me feel much better about myself,” said Judy Harding, member of Bright Side Opportunities Center’s weightlifting, strength, and conditioning classes.
Due to the training at Bright Side, Harding can lift up to 150 pounds at 76-years-old.
“I was so pumped at that it wasn’t funny, because you have to lift. You’re carrying things around, I have my own house, and I have to do the things that have to be done,” said Harding.
Her trainer Sally Winchell says strength training reduces the risk for disease and falls.
“As people age, we all know we lose muscle, our metabolism changes, hormones change, but if we keep lifting weights and building muscle, you’re going to have function, you’re going to have balance, you’re going to have flexibility, you’re going to be strong.” said Sally Winchell, Wellness Director at Bright Side Opportunities Center.
At Bright Side Opportunities Fitness Center, seniors ages 55-to-75 use weights to make sure they’re emotionally, physically, and mentally healthy
Harding says Bright Side’s yoga class came in handy during election season.
“We were able to do some stretching and that helped sort of release some of the tension. And it’s something that we all have to work through,” said Harding.
Winchell started a group called Sally’s Iron Mustangs, a team of senior women who lift up to 220 pounds and compete in weightlifting competitions in Central PA.
Before that, Winchell had to deal with her own struggles.
“When I was 49, I looked in the mirror and I saw an aging woman with saggy skin and wrinkles, and I didn’t like what I saw look back at me and I’m like 'I’m turning this ship around if I can,'” said Winchell.
She not only turned her life around but now she’s helping other seniors to lift their own weights, in the gym and in life.
“I told my kids don’t buy me anything. I don’t need another thing. I’m happy, I’m 70, and I’m enjoying it. I have two grandchildren. I can do my squats to play with them,” said Reich.