Seniors Warm Up to Fitness
By Edgar Sanchez, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Nov. 15–Bill Swayne was proud to be one of the first users of the new outdoor fitness equipment at Garcia Bend Park in the Pocket area.
“I hope this catches on. This is a really grand idea,” the 63-year-old said last week as he examined one of four exercise stations at the park.
Swayne, a fitness instructor for active older adults, noted that the fitness stations are designed for people of retirement age, although younger people will use them, too.
“Exercise is vital” for older adults, Swayne said. “It affords us the opportunity to live an active lifestyle as long as possible.”
On three consecutive days last week, Sacramento city officials unveiled new fitness stations at Garcia Bend Park, 7654 Pocket Road; George Sim Park, 6207 Logan St., south of Lemon Hill Avenue; and South Natomas Community Park, 2921 Truxel Road.
A ribbon-cutting for a fitness station at Jacinto Creek Park, at West Stockton Boulevard and Melville Drive in the south area, was scheduled for 10 a.m. today
The final set will be unveiled at Marshall Park, at 27th and J streets in midtown, in January.
At all the parks, the fitness equipment is right next to the walking trails.
The stations’ purchase and installation resulted from a $100,000 grant from the Ethel MacLeod Hart Trust Fund for Senior Citizens.
Hart, who died in 1992 at the age of 104, owned and operated the old Delta Telephone and Telegraph Co. in Courtland with her husband for many years. She spent the last 25 years of her life in midtown Sacramento.
Ethel MacLeod Hart be- queathed $1.4 million to the city of Sacramento, with instructions that the funds be used for the “comfort and enjoyment” of senior citizens.
In 1994, the city honored her by renaming the then-33-year-old Sacramento Senior Center as the Ethel MacLeod Hart Multipurpose Senior Center.
Swayne, a former drill instructor for the U.S. Army, teaches “Head-to-Toe Senior Fitness” classes at the Hart Senior Center at Marshall Park.
He will encourage his students to use the Marshall Park fitness stations as soon as they are in place, he said.
Swayne, invited by city officials to help unveil the new stations at Garcia Bend Park, said the stations at Marshall Park will allow his students to warm up before doing indoor aerobics, balance exercises and other work.
The fitness stations’ arrival underlines the commitment by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to fulfill Hart’s wishes.
“The department is interested in ensuring that our older residents stay fit and healthy, so this LifeTrail fitness equipment adds to what we have,” said Rosanne Bernardy, the department’s superintendent for older adult services.
“Studies have shown that physical activity can result in dramatic health benefits for people of all ages, but especially for older adults,” she added in a statement. “Even moderate exercise, like using the new fitness equipment, can lead to years of active, independent living.”
The fitness stations are durable and made with a surface that can be cleaned of graffiti.
“We expect they will hold up for years and years,” Bernardy said.
Each of the five parks will boast four fitness stations, allowing older adults to engage in age-appropriate strengthening, flexibility and balancing exercises, said Hindolo Brima, a spokesman for the Parks and Recreation Department.
Each of the stations is for three exercise types.
One station at Garcia Bend resembles a bicycle seat, with adjustable pedals underneath. By adjusting the pedals’ resistance with a knob, a person can warm up his lower body in preparation for walking or jogging.
Another side of the same station is for wheelchair users. It has instructions on how people in wheelchairs can perform a variety of stretch movements.
Also at the station, people can turn two handles to develop hand and forearm muscles.
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