Positively 50+: Salt Lake County helping 'enhance fitness' for better health

SALT LAKE CITY — The National Institutes of Health noted in a recent study that nearly a quarter of all adults worldwide are inactive, meaning they just don’t move enough or get any exercise.

Salt Lake County likes to highlight great programs to help senior citizens with better mental and physical health.

“Exercise helps every system in the body,” said Paige Corley, a health educator.

The physical benefits of exercise can’t be overstated. But the mental fitness that’s so important as we age is one of the best side effects of EnhanceFitness – just one of many programs Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services provides up and down the Wasatch Front.

“You can be just at the beginning of your fitness journey and maybe you need to sit for most of the class. That’s OK, we can accommodate you. Or maybe you’re really fit and you just want to continue that journey with the older adult community and we can accommodate you as well.”

Corley hopes that those who feel they’re headed toward the sunset of their careers into the new dawn of retirement don’t just sit around. There’s still work to be done.

“Life is heavy — I always say that to people,” she said. “Life is heavy. So if you want to stay in your home and stay independent, you need to have muscle on your body.”

The only way to get that muscle is to move, lift weights, and throw in some cardio, then you’re on your way to better bone density, disease prevention and overall strength.

“Even if you don’t love exercise, just coming in and being around other people… come in and just move your body a little bit… but share a laugh with somebody else,” Corley said. “Share an experience with somebody else.”

If you’re over 60 and you’d like to join in, most classes run Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And most senior centers like River’s Bend are open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Check the Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services website to learn more.