News and Resources for Seniors and Caregivers Near Fernandina Beach, Florida

Active Aging Week: The Lakeside at Amelia

Written by Donna Isbell Walker | Oct 10, 2020 2:00:00 PM

Variety is the key when it comes to exercise offerings at The Lakeside at Amelia.

Besides the on-site fitness center, there are Aqua Fit classes in the pool, circuit training, tai chi, seated yoga and the Silver Sneakers senior fitness program.

The month of October marks a transition from video exercise classes that were popular during quarantine to a vigorous, five-days-per-week selection of in-person fitness options. The community contracts with a local fitness business, which provides certified fitness instructors to lead the classes.

“Each week, she and her team are going to be doing a different exercise Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” said Engagement Director Lisa Drew. “On Tuesday and Thursday, they’re going to be doing circuit training. The residents will really be challenging themselves and competing with themselves to do their best.”

There will even be prizes for residents who do especially well in the classes.

The Aqua Fit pool classes are particularly popular with residents, who show up at 9:15 in the morning to spend an hour working with pool weights and noodles. But at the end of October, as morning temperatures cool down, Aqua Fit will go on hiatus until spring.

Drew is hopeful that the new indoor classes will draw just as many residents as the video classes did a few months ago. During quarantine, the video classes were a novelty. 

“It was kind of fun for everybody to see each other,” she said. “We would sometimes have 12 to 15 people who participated in those classes.”

Getting residents out of their apartments and into a fun physical activity is the goal, and with a bounty of exercise options, the community will surely be fit and on the move.