Sandy Fellows of Duluth took a fall during a three-day charity walk in 1999 and became convinced that stretching would help her stay physically fit.
An event trainer had recommended stretching to prepare for the 60-mile walk.
“I looked online for different stretches and started doing them regularly,” said Fellows, 67.
She was in the first leg of the walk when she and the person behind her stepped on a wire coil entwined in the grass at a Duluth park.
“I flew in the air and fell on my shoulder,” she recalled.
Fellows managed to finish the event. The chiropractic staff in the healthcare tent said her stretching regimen probably prevented a shoulder break.
“The fall really sold me on stretching,” said Fellows, who retired as director of social services at Campbell-Stone independent senior community in Buckhead, last year.
She now spends at least 30 minutes of her daily workout stretching. “It takes a lot of time and I think a lot of people don’t think it accomplishes that much but it does,” she said .
A June study by Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders, published in the Journal of American Medical Association, suggests that some type of regular exercise can assist healthy aging and mobility.
Like Fellows, some other metro Atlantans are using stretching to maintain a healthy lifestyle as they age.
For 94-year-old Doris Guzman, a Campbell-Stone resident, it’s a good day when her daily routine can include riding on the recumbent elliptical bike and stretching in the building’s exercise room.
The retired nurse says an active lifestyle while growing up on a Louisiana farm instilled a lasting interest in exercise and wellness. She learned to do yoga on her own from a booklet and has been doing Tai-Chi off and on for 10 years.
“A long time ago the philosophy was to just sit and baby or coddle (an injury) instead of exercise,” said Guzman who suffers from arthritis. “I found out changing positions can relieve you from pain; and what makes you feel better you are more apt to do.”
“Sometimes we hold our body in odd positions for a long period of time,” said Thai-Yoga practitioner Gnosisia Johnson. “That goes against the natural alignment of the body. That’s why it helps that yoga is the balancing of opposites.”
Monica Mulholland, an active walker and program director for Jeff Galloway’s Metro Walkers of Atlanta, turned to Johnson to resolve her stiffness.
“I wanted to be more flexible,” said Mulholland, a 67-year-old Sandy Springs resident. “I have a business that I run at home and I sit more than I should. I want to live a long healthy life. I don’t want to get where it’s difficult to go upstairs.”
Johnson says muscles can tighten up in the average person sitting at their office desk. So with Mulholland, Johnson uses stretches organized around moving the joints, assisted and independent yoga poses, and various breathing techniques.
“They are gentle movements but I feel really stretched when I do them, and the breathing was huge for me,” Mulholland said.
Being flexible was not automatic for Ted Kolczak who takes a regular Silver Sneakers Fitness class at Marcus Jewish Community Center in Dunwoody. The retired computer systems analyst said he’s never considered himself a natural athlete.
“I’ve been taking the class for a year,” said Kolczak, 70. “I felt very awkward at first. Guys can do strength (training) but when it comes to movement it’s harder. I think I’m better now at following coordination.”
The MJCCA class is one of several held around metro Atlanta. Instructor Karen Goldstein says seniors get a whole body workout using stretch exercise bands, balls, weights and even the chairs.
“Sometimes people who hate to exercise will come to get stronger,” Goldstein said. “One lady could never get in her husband’s car. Now she can and she has more balance.”
