Let’s raise a toast to a special exercise regimen for seniors: Bartender, make that a ‘Gym Tonic’! This cheerful moniker comes courtesy the Lien Foundation in Singapore, which runs a fitness programme designed especially for seniors. It comprises strength training, which in turn helps seniors regain their muscle strength and balance and stabilises their walking. Gym Tonic, a 12-week programme, came in as a result of a study conducted at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, which found that half the elderly in Singapore are frail. It comprises 30-minute sessions, twice-a-week, and uses air-powered equipment that automatically adjusts to accommodate individual fitness levels. All one has to do is tap a card on the equipment and it stores the data in a digital cloud to be tracked later. The programme, which is teamed with nutrition talks and health assessments, aims to increase muscle mass and make seniors less prone to falls. A follow-up survey showed that half the 396 seniors were able to reverse their frailty after undergoing the programme.

Photo: 123RF.com
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
February 2018