TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — When it comes to lifting weights and flipping tires for exercise, a local gym wants to make sure people over 50 aren’t left out of that conversation.
Temple Terrace Training trainer and owner, Micah Morgan, said seniors need to train as much as anybody else. Morgan said he was inspired by his mother, who is in her 60’s, to create a space that catered to people her age.
He came up with the nonprofit Strong Over 50. The exercise program is mobile and designed to go to different communities and community centers, offering strength training services.
Morgan already hosts classes for seniors. But his nonprofit expands those services, offering to travel to different communities and community centers throughout Tampa Bay and help seniors strength train for free.
“A lot of people treat people that are 50 plus (are) very, very fragile, like they’re not the cool kids, but they still are, and they can still do these things,” he said. “It keeps their mobility. It helps them with their bone density, which helps with if they fall, they can get back up so they don’t break any bones, any hips. It helps with their cognitive, their brain. It also helps with lowering their cholesterol, keeping their muscle mass.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four adults aged 65 or older report falling each year in the U.S. And while some falls don’t result in an injury, about 37 percent of those who fall required medical attention or restricted movement for at least one day.
Falling and the threat of injury is something Morgan and his mother, Stacy Scruggs, know about all too well.
“She was going after the ball and she stumbled and fell. And no lie, she got up and she said I’m, ‘OK, I lift weights,’” Morgan said.
Scruggs said she was able to survive that fall because of the work they’re doing at the gym, and she is encouraging others to join them.
“You need to get moving,” she said. “You want to get stronger, you want to have more balance, more confidence and once again keep up with our grandchildren that we talk about all the time, you need to come.”
Lifting weights, flipping tires, they do it all and it’s exactly what Melanie Payne said she needed to do to get fit after retirement.
“Of any exercise program I’ve ever done, weightlifting and dealing with weights has changed my body composition faster than absolutely any other exercise. Running, walking, biking, nothing have I ever seen results this quickly,” she said.
At 68 years old, she said the results go beyond what she sees in the mirror. The workout also allows time to fellowship and meet new people.
“There’s a lot of things, especially when you quit working, you don’t see people that much. You don’t have a lot of interaction with folks. So it’s a good way to socialize without having to get out there. You’re forced to socialize because you’re in a group class,” she said.