By Mechele Cooper, Morning Sentinel, Waterville, Maine
Jul. 13–HALLOWELL — Sherman Kostick huffed his way through a half-hour on the exercise bike at Age Right Fitness.
The 77-year-old said he had recently joined the new gym for people age 40 and older to build up his endurance.
He works out for an hour and a half, he said, six days a week.
“I have multiple health problems … two knee operations, a hip operation, bypass surgery, a pacemaker and defibrillator to get my heart started,” said Kostick, who is semi-retired and lives in Manchester.
“I’m trying to build up my endurance so I’m stronger and build up my muscles. I’ve been sick a long time.”
Kostick worked out with a half-dozen other seniors on weight machines and cardio equipment.
After he completed his half-hour session, Valerie Ross, a personal trainer, helped him with his sneakers. Kostick had been riding the bicycle in his stocking feet.
She and Bob Sweet are partners in this senior fitness venture.
“You did a half-hour. That’s awesome!” Ross said as she slid his sneakers onto his feet. “There you go, sir. Your golden slippers.”
Ross and Sweet are certified personal trainers through the American Council of Exercise and hold certificates through The American Senior Fitness Association. They also are certified in automated external defibrillator training, cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and first aid.
Sweet lives in Manchester and Ross lives in a home attached to the gym at 124 Outlet Road. As part of the membership fee, they design individual exercise programs and provide personalized training to the elderly.
Ross said the gym has been open since January. Most of their clients have chronic conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, hip and knee replacements and heart conditions.
“We develop programs that help them manage their conditions,” Sweet said. “They might have high blood pressure and now they’re off their medicine. Exercise does provide that ability. Through exercise you can reverse, in most cases, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. With diabetes it certainly can affect the blood level sugars. They can see a dramatic reduction.”
They chose Hallowell for the location of the gym because, he said, it has a large senior citizen population. But their clients also come from surrounding towns.
Ross, who holds a master’s degree in gerontology, said she loves working with the elderly. She said she envisioned a larger facility, but said many of the large gyms are closing their doors.
So she and Sweet decided to scale down their mission and focused on the older population.
“We’re not a typical gym with music and TV,” Ross said. “We want people to relax and slow down and think of themselves. There’s a lot of camaraderie that goes on. And no two programs are the same. They’re all made to meet their different needs and interests and health concerns.”
She said people are finding their gym by word of mouth. She has done some local advertising and Age Right Fitness has a Web site, www.agerightfitness.com.
Members can pay a $50 monthly fee, $270 for six months or $500 for the year.
The gym offers senior discounts and membership applications are available by calling 623-3550 or e-mailing [email protected].
Barbara Seavey, 70, a retired state worker from Randolph who said she has diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, joined the gym in February.
She does both cardio and strength training on the treadmills, elliptical machines and the exercise bicycle. She comes to the gym five days a week.
Seavey said she liked the gym because it was small and she wouldn’t be faced with a lot of fit, young bodies.
“I do all the weight machines and some work on the balls for balance issues,” Seavey said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience here. I’ve only lost a few pounds, but my clothes are fitting much better.”
Don Trott of Augusta, 61, retired federal worker, said he was impressed that a doctor’s certificate was needed if clients were on any type of medication, and that a trainer is on the floor at all times monitoring clients.
In a month, Trott said he lost four pounds and replaced fat with muscle.
“I feel better at 61 than I’ve felt in a long time,” Trott said. “As a baby boomer, I would not have come back to the gym unless I had this kind of experience.”
The experience is what has kept Mary Lou Titus coming back. The 60-year-old school bus driver from Augusta said she’s paid for a personal trainer before, but never got the service Ross and Sweet has given her. She said they understand her goals, which is to lose weight and gain body strength.
“They’ve helped me with the equipment and wrote up a program and the trainer never did that,” Titus said. “They give you personal attention and explain the program. And stand there and make sure your heart rate is right and that I’m using the machines correctly, which is very important.”
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