waterford

 

 Older adults Circuits Blog 

 

Older adults Circuits there was lots of research done before the first circuits were set up. The Older adult’s circuit’s equipment that is required for these activity’s cost up to nearly 500 euro. There is promoting and advertising one in the few weeks before one of these programs takes place. The Circuits that took place in Tramore there was a delivery of what we do in the circuits 3 weeks prior to when the first program took place. A lot of the publicity would be through word of mouth if the rest of the participants are enjoying what they are doing they will tell others the cost of these programs is 3 euro per person it is a non-profit organisation.

There are three sets of Older Adult circuits in different areas on a Monday our first Circuits takes place in the morning in Kilmacthomas, then another one takes place in the afternoon in Tramore and the last one of these programs takes place in Dungarvan on a Friday morning the responsibility’s that I as a student development officer was there on the first day of each circuits program that takes place I had to get every participant to fill out a Par Q form. As well as all that I had to collect all the money so when I get back to the office one of my jobs was to upload all of the information that I received on all the participants with any health conditions to upload to the online system.

My role on these circuits changed week to week at the start I didn’t have much involvement in the warm ups and the running of the varies game’s but as the weeks went awn my role changed and some of the circuits I done the warm ups and some I guided the older adults through all the different stations. Once week 5, 6 came we took on the circuits in Tramore and ran them from start to finish me and another student it was a big step that was a big boost to our confidence that we did not require peter to attend so he could stay in the office and be developing the next program.

 

One of my jobs at the start of work placement was to do research to find different types of equipment. I had to brows varies different websites to find the best prices and products that was available. The Sports Partnership received a grant of 10,000 euro in January so they had the funding to invest in the best products required to maintain 5 different circuits in different locations. So any spare time in the first 5 weeks of my work placement I had to do all of the research now going into

Week 7 the equipment is in the process of being negotiated to get the best price from the different Company’s.

 

 

 

The biggest task with doing exercise with older adults is to make sure you don’t get them to over exercise or do exercise that they might not be able for and doing so may cause injury.

Funny things that happen on theses circuits some of the stations can be quite amusing as in the dyna bands station .Most of the older adults never want to do some of the stations properly because doing it right takes hard work but most of the time they just flex it out around there heads and don’t do it properly sometimes we the tutors go down and try get them to do it properly and they just laugh and say they don’t wan to do it the right way.

The biggest benefits of exercising for older adults it helps them loose or maintain a healthy weight because as adults get older their metabolic rate slows down so maintaining a healthy weight can be very challenging. Exercise helps build their muscle mass, so they become stronger which helps them if they were to fall and hurt themselves there would be a less chance of injury.

There are also mental health benefits of exercising it improves their sleep it boosts their mood and self-confidence. Exercise is a huge stress reliver.

It has been proven that regular exercise as you get older lowers the risk of Heart disease dementia and diabetes. It also lifts your moods as much when you are 60-70 the same as if you were 20 or 30.

The best stations we have in our exercise circuits are the balance and stability ones this is where we get them to stand on one leg for 5 seconds then we get them to change legs. After this one we have another balance stability cushion where they have to try stand on it with both feet this helps them with their balance in everyday life.

 

One of the best things about exercising for seniors is that it helps them maintain their functionality of how their brain works. It helps them with the ability to learn new things.

Physical activity within older adults is an amazing opportunity for them to socialize as it plays a big part in our well being so many older adults are lonely. Exercise can help older adults maintain relationships.

There are lots of fun activities incorporated into these older adult Circuits and this lets them improve eye and hand coordination and a fun way that they don’t even notice they are doing it.

Here is an exercise Myth that is known exercise isn’t safe for older people they don’t want to fall and break a bone. Instead there are a lot of facts that show that exercise reduces the risk of falling.

 

 

My last exercising myth that I have came across was “Gyms are only for young people” This is not true at all a lot of older adults might feel intimidated by going to the gym but its about finding the right time to go in the middle of the day when it isn’t so busy.