Never before has the fitness industry witnessed as many people over the age of 55 taking part in exercise.
While they want to be fitter, healthier and in better physical form than their counterparts from earlier generations, a recent study from Concordia’s Department of Applied Human Sciences has found that none of these factors are motivation enough to keep baby boomers active through their senior years.
So if the thought of lowering their chronic disease risk factors, maintaining their weight or prolonging the other physiological changes of advancing age is not enough to spur our older adults into active lifestyles, what is? Passion, a component that one of the study’s authors, James Gavin, says needs to be factored in when prescribing exercise for baby boomers.
With identifiable links between the boomer’s passion pursuits (such as tennis, golf or dancing, for example,) and the likelihood of their adherence to exercise, understanding just what to program for maximum translation is key to impacting their fitness positively.
Australian Fitness Network has partnered with the Functional Ageing Institute to bring you Functional Ageing and Exercise, an online course that covers everything you need to know about exercise prescription and assessment for older adults, and that has been approved for 10 CECs by Fitness Australia.
For more information on working with the older adult client (from ageing physiology to assessment, prescription and more), check out Functional Ageing and Exercise.
https://app-66b73b11c1ac1859509cd621.closte.com/ceccourses/online
Reference: James Gavin, Matthew Keough, Michael Abravanel, Tatiana Moudrakovski, Madeleine Mcbrearty. ‘Motivations for Participation in Physical Activity Across the Lifespan’, International Journal of Wellbeing, August 2014
