Altoona, Pennsylvania woman recognized for her inspirational journey after a dementia diagnosis
NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — SilverSneakers® by Tivity Health®, the nation’s leading community fitness program for older Americans, announced today the national winner of its 19th annual SilverSneakers Member of the Year Award. The award honors a SilverSneakers member who inspires and motivates other seniors through health, physical activity, and community.
This year’s recipient is Rita Yetsko, 87, from Altoona, PA. Rita was recognized for her motivating health transformation and embodiment of wellness through movement and social engagement.
After being diagnosed with dementia in 2021, Rita’s health and mental capabilities steadily began to decline. The doctor’s recommendations for what could slow the progress of the disease were diet, exercise, and socialization. After some coaxing from her daughters, Rita began attending SilverSneakers classes, and her progress has been astonishing. She is back to the vibrant and fun-loving person her daughters remember. Rita is now eager to go to her SilverSneakers classes and is an inspiration to anyone who tries to keep up with her. She attends SilverSneakers classes at the Groove Fitness Studio in Altoona, as a free benefit through Aetna®, her Medicare Advantage plan.
“Rita’s uplifting health journey is a powerful reminder that we can set and reach new health and fitness goals, no matter the challenge,” said Caroline Khalil, Chief Operating Officer, Tivity Health. “Her story and the hundreds of Member of the Year nominations we received illustrate the significant impact SilverSneakers has not only on our members but their families. We are honored to provide our SilverSneakers members a continued pathway for a long and independent lifestyle of health and wellness.”
Since Rita began attending SilverSneakers classes, she has blossomed and is a social butterfly with her SilverSneakers friends who look forward to seeing her. She is a champion for them and her community. Rita attends SilverSneakers class with her family, and an unexpected benefit is that one of her daughters, Terry, who has a severe intellectual disability, loves attending classes with her mom. Rita will be 88 this fall, and not slowing down anytime soon.
“Congratulations to our Medicare Advantage member Rita for her amazing achievements and inspirational story,” said Terri Swanson, president of Medicare for Aetna, a CVS Health® company. “We are honored to partner with Rita on her incredible wellness journey and wish her continued good health and happiness.”
Rita will be honored alongside nine other SilverSneakers members who were selected as finalists for the award. A public online vote determined the national winner. Read more about the SilverSneakers Member of the Year winner and finalists: SilverSneakers.com/MOYAward.
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SilverSneakers offers members a network of up to 22,000 fitness locations, along with community-based options such as rec centers and parks. Members can take part in live, instructor-led and on-demand virtual classes in a variety of lengths and formats that include strength training, cardio, meditation and stress management, always bringing more to the member.
Currently, nearly 18 million Americans are eligible for SilverSneakers at no additional cost to the member through select Medicare Advantage, group retiree, and Medicare Supplement plans. SilverSneakers members can use their membership for access to multiple locations and use the SilverSneakers® GO mobile app, to enable them to be active wherever and whenever they choose to work out.
About SilverSneakers SilverSneakers®, by Tivity Health, is the nation’s leading community fitness program for Medicare-eligible Americans. The program was founded in 1992 and is available to about 18 million Americans through many Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Supplement carriers, and group retiree plans. For more information, to check eligibility to enroll in the program or sign up for a SilverSneakers newsletter, go to silversneakers.com.
About Tivity Health Tivity Health® Inc. is a leading provider of healthy life-changing solutions, including SilverSneakers®, Burnalong®, Prime® Fitness and WholeHealth Living®. We help adults improve their health and support them on life’s journey by providing access to in-person and virtual physical activity, social, and mental enrichment, condition-specific programming, as well as a full suite of physical medicine and integrative health services. We continue to enhance the way we direct members along their journey to better health by delivering an insights-driven, personalized, interactive experience. Our suite of services supports health plans, employers, hospital systems and others nationwide as they seek to reduce costs and create healthier communities. At Tivity Health, we deliver the resources needed to live healthier, happier, more connected lives. Learn more at www.tivityhealth.com.
Contact: Debbie Jacobson Tivity Health [email protected]
Snow and ice, illness, holiday travel and packed schedules are among the many reasons people struggle to stay fit in winter.
Damon Swift, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, studies the health impacts of exercise. He said consistency in exercise is important, and switching from an active to sedentary lifestyle for three months could cause you to lose benefits like cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength.
Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to adapt your workout routine and stay healthy during the winter. Swift shared his best advice with UVA Today.
Think Beyond Weight
To stay motivated, Swift recommends focusing on the many benefits of exercise. “I think sometimes the perception is, ‘If I’m not losing weight, I’m not improving my health,’” he said. “But it’s important to know there are benefits beyond weight control.”
Swift said exercise provides mental health benefits, which are especially important when sunlight is scarce. Research shows exercise can reduce the risk of depression and improve symptoms of depression.
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Exercise also strengthens the immune system, an important benefit during cold and flu season.
Prepare for the Weather
Freezing temperatures, cold and ice can derail your exercise routine.
Swift said exercising in cold weather affects how the body responds to activity. “When you’re exercising in the cold, blood flow gets directed away from your extremities to protect the warmth at your core,” he said. “Your metabolic rate, or the amount of energy your body is using, also tends to be a little bit higher to try to regulate your body temperature.”
If you enjoy exercising outdoors, be sure to dress appropriately for the weather, wear breathable layers, a hat and gloves. Older adults or others at higher risk of injury should take extra precautions if there’s snow or ice on the ground.
Of course, exercise doesn’t have to be outdoors. If working out in the cold and snow isn’t appealing, consider switching to indoor activities like swimming or at-home workout videos.
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Find Small Ways To Be Active
Swift recommends finding creative ways to add more activity to your day. He recalled a study that focused on increasing people’s physical activity outside of formal training.
“We had participants who would call their adult children and just walk around their house and accumulate steps that way,” he said.
Devices like step counters or activity monitors can help track all types of movement.
Adding more activity can be as simple as parking your car farther from the office or engaging in active play with your children. “Don’t just think about physical activity as being on a treadmill,” Swift said. “Are there places where physical activity can become a part of what you’re already doing?”
Make a Plan
For optimal health benefits, experts recommend 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week for adults. But making a plan for when to exercise is key.
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“The people that tend to do the best in our research studies are the ones that exercise at the same time every single day because it becomes part of their regular routine,” he said. “If you can say, ‘OK, this is going to be my exercise time,’ and you protect that time, you’re probably better off than if you just hope that you’re going to get out there at some point.”
Swift advises to “never miss a Monday” when it comes to physical activity.
“Planning to get exercise in the earlier parts of the week will help you in case something happens toward the end of the week,” he said.
Be Flexible
Swift acknowledges that even the best plan may go awry. The most important thing to remember is exercise is not all or nothing. Adding just a small amount of physical activity to your day is where you get the most bang for your buck, health-wise.
In this hyperactive world of non-stop schedules and endless notifications, busy people often exercise to regulate stress. A solid sweat session can leave you feeling more energised and even happier after your body produces endorphins from all that movement – but that’s not always the best course of action. An intense workout can also crank up cortisol, your body’s stress hormone. If your stress levels are already through the roof, what your body might actually need is something slower and easier, whether you want to admit it or not.
Somatic workouts – a style of slow, mindful, body-focused exercise – have gained popularity as a remedy to society’s collective elevated stress state. This type of training can help you dial things down, relax, and reconnect to your body. Here’s what you need to know and how to work more somatic training into your routine.
What Are Somatic Workouts?
Instead of chasing PRs or burning out in a HIIT workout, somatic exercise is about tuning in toward yourself. ‘It’s prioritising movement that feels good and listening to what your body’s telling you,’ says Julianne Lane, DPT, C.S.C.S., a physical therapist at Bespoke Treatments in San Diego who uses somatic movement in her practice. ‘It shouldn’t be painful, strenuous, or difficult. It’s about allowing your body and your mind to link up so that you can be more in tune with yourself.’
Mind-body practices like yoga and tai-chi are obvious examples, but somatic exercises don’t always look like exercise. Anything that syncs your movements with internal awareness can count – like stretching, walking, and even breathwork. ‘You’re not really going into that exercise with a strength-gain or competitive goal; it’s more about the mindfulness,’ says Lane. During this movement, you’re focusing on how it feels in your body rather than what it looks like.
Who Are Somatic Workouts Good For?
Somatic workouts can benefit anyone stuck in a chronic state of stress. While traditional exercise activates your sympathetic nervous system (the network behind the of nerves behind the fight-or-flight response), somatic workouts have a different effect: they turn on your parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest system. ‘It helps your body actually relax,’ says Lane. Your heart rate lowers, you feel calmer, and your muscles can release tension.
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‘Let’s say you have a very stressful job,’ says Lane. ‘If you wake up first thing in the morning and go to an intense workout class – or late at night – that’s stressful on your body. You’re keeping cortisol levels pretty high throughout the day.’ Somatic workouts can help by giving your nervous system a chance to recover before or after those high-intensity sessions. They’re also beneficial for people struggle to sleep, like those with sleep disorders or anyone who has a hard time winding down at night. And sleep is when recovery – and real strength gains – actually happen.
Somatic movement can also be an effective tool for managing chronic pain, like lower back pain. ‘By doing somatic movement, it allows patients to shift their focus away from the pain site to other parts of the body,’ says Lane. Over time, small studies have shown this can actually lower pain perception.
How to Add Somatic Exercises to Your Workout Routine
You don’t need to overhaul your workouts to try somatic movement. Just sprinkle these training approaches into your routine to expand your exercise horizons and connect better to your body. Start with a few minutes of somatic movement to your warm-up, cool-down, or recovery days. Here are a few simple practices to get you started:
1/ Body Scan
This exercise is all about body awareness. Start at the top of your body and move down to your toes, paying attention to how each part feels. ‘Start with gentle movements of the head and neck, and get hose muscles to really relax,’ says Lane. ‘Then you move down to the shoulders (little shoulder roll), and then to the hands (little wiggles). Then lay the hands still, and really work down the body that way.’
2/ Diaphragmatic Breathing
‘A lot of times we breathe with our accessory muscles like our upper traps, our neck muscles, or our chest muscles, rather than using our diaphragm throughout the day,’ says Lane. Instead, inhale deeply through your nose, letting your belly expand first, then your rib cage. Exhale slowly.
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Bonus points: Pair this breathwork with deep stretches to make it a full somatic workout.
3/ Dance
Turn on your favorite song and move however your body feels like moving. Let your intuition guide you – there’s no wrong way.
4/ Yoga
Some fast-paced studio classes may miss the mark, but many yoga practices are inherently somatic when they focus on connecting breath and movement.
Just like any new habit, somatic exercise takes practice, and quieting your inner dialogue and focusing on feeling is easier said than done.
So start slow: ‘Try three days a week and then once that feels manageable, you can increase up to four or five times a week,’ says Lane. As you build consistency, you may notice yourself feeling calmer, more grounded, and better able to handle whatever life throws your way.
When you’re busy, exercise is often one of the first things to fall by the wayside. When this happens to you, don’t beat yourself up about it—it happens to us all. Maintaining a positive mindset towards exercise is one of the things that will ensure it’s enjoyable and keep you motivated.
It’s also worth remembering that a little bit of exercise is better than none at all.
I was reminded of this when I recently saw Barre instructor Mara Cimatoribus’ workout for the time-poor. It’s a five-minute arms routine that you can do while you’re waiting for your dinner to cook, or a kettle to boil.
If you’ve never tried barre, it’s a brilliant way to get stronger. It involves low-impact movements that improve your mobility and strengthen a range of muscles, including those that you might not use as much in other forms of exercise.
This workout is designed to improve muscle tone in the arms and it’s great for boosting posture too.
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How to do Mara Cimatoribus’ five-minute barre workout
There are five exercises in this routine, which Cimatoribus recommends doing for 20 reps, or 16 reps on each side of the body for the unilateral exercise.
All you’ll need for this workout is a light set of weights, but if you don’t have any, you can use water bottles or food cans, which will work just as well.
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The benefits of habit stacking your workouts
Cimatoribus’ suggestion that you could do this workout while you’re waiting for your air fryer to cook your food is a great example of habit stacking, a technique that combines a new habit you want to adopt with a habit you already have (like cooking dinner, for example).
Research has found that habit stacking is a great way to lose weight and, in this case, it could also help you establish a new exercise routine, by remembering to do this quick five-minute workout every time you use the air fryer.
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Incorporating regular movement into your life, even in short bursts, is an effective way to improve your physical and mental health—it just needs to be more than a one-off.
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