Socially-Distance Fitness: Seniors Excited for Return of Classes

ST. CLOUD -- As area gyms welcome back their members, many health clubs are noticing it’s not just the younger members returning.

Staff at the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA say they’ve noticed a growing number of their senior members returning to the club each week.

Christine Stoeber is an instructor at the YMCA. She says once the senior members heard classes like water aerobics returned, they began filling up.

Classes have been maxing out. Our water classes just started up and are full, our other class offerings are full, so they are coming back.

She says classes are limited right now but they are looking at adding more classes as the demand has grown. She says they are adjusting their classes to make it easier on the members working out with a mask on.

Stoeber says many of the senior members are thankful to be back in class and interacting with others.

They are happy to see people and they like talking to each other. Some of the members are no longer doing the online classes, they only want to attend in-person.

Stoeber says they still offer several online classes for seniors who are not comfortable returning just yet.

She says many of their senior members have commented how safe they feel in the club with so many cleaning and safety measures being taken.

The WJON series "Socially-Distance Fitness" features opportunities for people to focus on their well-being to create a healthier you.