With reporting by Chris La Pelusa
Sun City is an extremely active community, especially when it comes to fitness. But there’s a lot of people who don’t or are unable to exercise but wish they could.
“There’s always a way to exercise,” says Barbara Dvorak, personal trainer and fitness instructor to the Sit and Fit exercise classes held in Prairie Lodge every Monday and Wednesday from 11:00 to 11:50 a.m.
Cousin to the Gentle Strength classes, which are “a little more strenuous than Sit and Fit,” says Barbara, these one-of-a-kind classes allow you to sit on your derrière and get a workout at the same time.
“We’re in chairs,” explains Barbara. “What we do is we start our class off with a series of arm stretching, lower shoulders, back, we might push our arms over our head; we might do swimming motions, turning to the side. I use stretches and moves to warm our bodies up.”
Besides the chair, Sit and Fit employs three pieces of equipment. “We use light weights, a Spri tubing for resistance, and we use beach balls,” says Barbara. “And we do a variety of exercises for the upper body and lower body. We do toe tapping, we do ‘walk forward, forward, back, back,’ but we’re sitting down, so our feet are moving, so they are still getting motion.”
Sit and Fit is unique in that people with disabilities or very limited mobility can participate just as easily. “For this class, we have people who come in wheel chairs or [with] walkers and canes,” says Barbara.
Developing mobility is the main focus of the class, with emphasis on the everyday movements that are necessary for common, daily tasks. “We do [an] overhead stretch,” says Barbara, “because to lift something out of a cabinet, you have to lift your arm and be able to control what you take out of that cabinet and bring it down. It enables the people to stay mobile enough that they can do most of the things for daily living.”
Barbara says that many participants of Sit and Fit join after they have had an illness or have been through rehab from a stroke or other difficulty. “They are done with the insurance-covered rehabilitation at the hospital, and they’ll come and take a class and try to keep themselves mobile.”
Sit and Fit has a mixture of exercises that develop mobility and strength and stretch the muscles.
“We do a variety of things that covers shoulders, biceps, triceps, chest, back, legs that enables people to get off the couch, to get out of the car,” says Barbara. And for those who are able, Barbara says Sit and Fit also covers an exercise “where we stand up and sit down. And for those who don’t have as much strength or balance, they will lift one leg and hold it and put it down, then put the other leg up and hold it and put it down.”
Every exercise is done at each participant’s own comfort level. “If they don’t want to do an exercise or can’t do all of them, they just stop,” says Barbara.
Sit and Fit is also great socialization, Barbara says, especially for those who can’t get out a lot. “It’s a great atmosphere. If you haven’t been out and about, if you’re recovering, or if you want to get back into the exercise world, this is a great way to start, whether you have issues or do not have issues [with mobility].”
If Sit and Fit sounds like the perfect exercise class for you, you can get a free pass to try the class before you join, and you can sign up for one day or both days.
“It’s a very friendly group,” Barbara says. “You can work at your own pace. This is a good thing to do to stay healthy, to stay mobile, for socialization, [and] maybe make some new friends.”
