Improve Your Quality of Life and Have More Fun in 2021!
Some people make it a habit to set new year’s resolutions for themselves each year, only to find that within a few weeks, those good intentions have fallen by the wayside. Whether you set any resolutions for 2021 or not, it’s never too late to start healthy habits, and there’s no better time to get started than now.
January is an ideal time to set your sights on switching up your routine. The winter holidays are over, and there are fewer diversions—and excuses—to keep you from following through on those plans to take better care of yourself. And now, with the pandemic factoring into so many of our decisions, it’s more important than ever to be mindful of our health.
New Year + Healthy Habits = Happier You!
When you feel healthy, it’s easier to also feel happy. You know the basic advice for good health: eat a balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, get plenty of sleep and exercise. In fact, research shows a consistent positive relationship between physical activity and happiness.1
Being physically active through healthy habits can have a lot of other benefits as well, such as:2
- Improving your strength, balance, flexibility and endurance
- Reducing symptoms associated with arthritis, anxiety and depression
- Keeping diabetes and high blood pressure under control
So, what do you do if you’re ready to be more physically active but you’re not sure how to get started? Or what if you know you’ll need some help staying motivated?
The Christwood Community Center staff can help you begin your new exercise routine — and stick with it. As Randy Becnel, the wellness director at the Center says, “We try to make it exciting for people to be here. The camaraderie of the classes, being around people their own age — that makes it easier for people to come regularly.”
Randy also emphasizes that people need to “make the choice to be active while we’re trying to get through this pandemic.” It’s very easy to become sedentary while we’re staying at home more these days but spending too much time on the couch can take a toll on our physical, mental and emotional health.
Read on to discover the advantages of being a member, and find out what we’re doing to protect against the coronavirus.
The Emphasis is on ‘Community’
We designed our beautiful 23,000-square-foot Community Center to be a hub where people can connect — through social events, educational and wellness activities, a meal or beverage at the Forever Fit Kitchen, treatments at the Lotus Spa and more.
Even now, when the pandemic prevents us from offering our full calendar of events and all of the usual options at the Center, it’s still a place where residents and members feel comfortable attending fitness classes and using the facility — including the sparkling, six-lane pool — to keep up their health and wellness routine.
COVID-19 Safety Precautions
We’re taking all of the prescribed precautions, and then some, to make sure it’s as safe as possible for everyone who wants to be here. For instance:
- The Center currently is open to members and residents on Monday through Saturday.
- Temperature checks and screenings are performed before members enter the Community Center.
- All individuals are required to wear a mask while in the Center except for when they are actually exercising.
- Locker rooms, exercise areas, bathrooms and hallways are cleaned with a sanitizing fog machine at the end of each day.
- The staff does ongoing cleaning and sanitizing throughout the day.
- Sanitizing wipe dispensers are conveniently placed for members and residents to wipe down the exercise equipment before and after using it, and hand sanitizer is available throughout the building.
- The pool is monitored to ensure that safe social distancing guidelines are followed, and every other cardiovascular machine is turned off (for the same reason).
- Exercise class sizes are small (no more than 12). As demand increases, more classes will be added. The pool is large enough to allow 20 people to safely participate in water classes.
Treadmills, Yes. Run-of-the-mill, No.
Speaking of feeling comfortable, bear in mind that even though people come here to exercise and work out, the Center doesn’t have the same atmosphere as your typical health club. It’s open only to those who are 55 or older, so, as Randy said, you won’t see people in their twenties or thirties here trying to get “buff for the beach” or “hanging out looking for a date.” The people who frequent the Center’s fitness facility are your peers.
Each member of our fitness staff has a degree in exercise science or a similar area of study, so they can make appropriate science-based recommendations for people in their fifties, sixties, seventies and beyond.
In addition, since a 70-year-old is going to have a different workout routine than a 25-year-old, the cardio and weight machines have been selected with that in mind.
Seeing is Believing!
If you live in the greater Covington area, are at least 55, and have been thinking about increasing your physical activity level as one of your “new year healthy habits,” we encourage you to come by and take a look at our Community Center. Talk with our staff and let us help ease any pandemic-related concerns you might have.
We think you’ll find that our Community Center is a great place to start your new wellness habits — and you might even see that getting (or staying) active and healthy can be fun! You probably are well aware that a sedentary lifestyle can lead to chronic health conditions, so don’t wait for the doctor to give you a diagnosis of heart disease or type 2 diabetes. Go ahead and take that first step to improve or maintain your quality of life now. You’ll thank yourself later.
For more information about becoming a member of the Community Center at Christwood, or to set up a time to come by, call (985) 292-1234.
If you’d like to learn more about the transformative lifestyle that residents of Christwood enjoy, take a minute to fill out our contact form and we’ll be in touch!
1 Zhanjia Zhang and Weiyun Chen, “A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Happiness,” Journal of Happiness Studies 20 (April 2019) 1305-22.
2 “Health Tips for Older Adults,” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, October 2019, https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/healthy-eating-physical-activity-for-life/health-tips-for-older-adults.
