** “As seen in the Vancouver Province Newspaper on January 8, 2017” 

Personal trainer Svetlana Pelletier works with Lois Keebler, 69, in Vancouver to improve her balance, muscle strength and bone density through resistance training. Keebler says she recently started to slip on an icy sidewalk, but was able to right herself without hitting the ground. She credits that to better balance and overall fitness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With half of Canadians over 40, simple demographics have put exercise geared to older adults on the last three annual top-10 list of fitness trends compiled by Canfitpro, a national training and certification company for fitness professionals.

“From a business perspective, it’s at that stage where you can’t really ignore that market anymore,” says Colin Milner, CEO of the Vancouver-based International Council on Active Aging, an organization that promotes healthy living after middle age.

It’s also linked to a change in the way we define healthy aging more in terms of keeping as active as possible rather than the absence of disease, Milner says.

“Today we are living longer — many of us thriving — with diseases which once killed us. But if you lose your functional abilities — you’re not able to stand up, you’re not able to get out of bed — you lose your ability to function day-to-day. Life is very different.”

Fitness goals vary widely, from people who have stuck with a vigorous routine for years to others who want to garden, play with grandchildren or get up off the floor if they need to, he says.

Personal trainer Svetlana Pelletier (right) works with client Lois Keebler. ‘Older clients are much more focused,’ says Pelletier. ‘They have a goal to stay independent, so they’re much better clients than younger ones.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Svetlana Peltier is a Vancouver personal trainer with BodyAge Fitness who has specialized in working with older adults for about half of her 30 years in the industry. She says she’s observed more interest among both clients and trainers, particularly as people retire to the West Coast specifically because they can be outside more to play sports or enjoy nature.

“It’s a perfect environment to maintain a healthy lifestyle,” she says.

“The reality is we’re all getting older and if you don’t use it, you lose it. You become dependant and this is one of the biggest fears,” says Pelletier. “Older clients are much more focused. They have a goal to stay independent, so they are often more motivated than younger ones.”

Train Smarter – Not Harder!

Svetlana & Michel Pelletier

 

Since more and more older people have been exercising regularly, the fitness scientists have been able to perform studies on these “ Super Seniors” in an effort to find out what makes them tick…

And since social media has become such an integral part of most people’s lives, we have the opportunity to quickly find out about these Health & Fitness Superstar and be motivated by the fact that the studies are proving that “Consistency of training” is the main explanation for their amazing results!

One of my Hero is this 106 years old French cyclist, Robert Marchand, who is still riding around 3000 miles per year. He has been setting cycling age records since 2012 and he recently set a new “over- 105 age group” one hour track cycling by covering 22.547kms within that time. Here is a link to some of his story: https://www.outsideonline.com/2154271/105-year-old-frenchman-fitter-you

On the female side, this 80 years old body-builder is also showing that, as she says herself “ Age is nothing but a number!” ; http://ernestineshepherd.net/?page_id=2

By reading through the studies which have been done using many of these “Super Seniors”, one quickly realize they do not utilize “ secret training methods or any illegal drugs” to achieve their results. Read how these 4 men are proving that “ Age is just a number” : http://www.mensfitness.com/life/sports/4-men-who-prove-age-really-just-number-when-it-comes-fitness

It basically comes down to:

• Regular workouts and the enjoyment of being active.
• Enough recovery
• Proper nutrition

It may sounds too simple to be real, right? I must say, I used to also believe these “Super Seniors” must have been born with the right “fitness gene” or some other kind of improved biological make up which allows them to be these special people. However, the more I get to know some of these local “ Super Seniors”, the quicker I realize that they have basically been following the same type of Health & Fitness Plan I and all our clients are on. They have simply been consistently on that training/life plan for a much longer time than I have…

I found it somewhat refreshing to realize this fact. I have just turned 50 and I, DEFINITELY, want to be fit and active for many, many… more years.

To read that Robert Marchand was able to increase his VO2 capacity after the age of 100 by following a systematic training plan had a major impact on how I have started to look at my present training plan. The statement “ I am in this for the long haul” has a whole new meaning to me.

I hope the little post will also make you realize that Consistency of training is definitely the key to long term Health & Fitness. Get out there and have fun working out!

Happy Training.

Train Smarter – Not

 

 

 

 

Harder!

Michel Pelletier