FINISH WITH A FLOURISH

FITNESS COACHING FOR SENIORS

Susan Longley is committed to helping seniors Finish with a Flourish. Exercise is ALWAYS the foundation for aging gracefully and powerfully.  Whether your goals are intellectual, spiritual, or physical, your success starts with learning how to control your body.

I’m Susan Longley and I would like to welcome you to Finish with a Flourish. Please browse around to learn about senior fitness, and be sure to visit our Inspirational Interviews page to hear seniors talk about why exercise is the key to their lives as well as their health.

Three Strong Foundations for Senior Fitness

Functional Fitness

Functional fitness exercises train your muscles to work together to perform daily tasks by simulating everyday movements. These exercises work the upper and lower body at the same time, using multiple joints and numerous muscles. They help you develop better balance and core stability, which can reduce the risk of falls.

Pilates

Pilates is a low-impact method of exercise that consists of controlled and deliberate movements that help develop a sense of body awareness. By alternately contracting and stretching the muscles, the exercises develop muscle strength without bulk. Pilates emphasizes proper postural alignment, core strength and muscle balance. Pilates is named for its creator, Joseph Pilates, who developed the exercises in the 1920s.

Water Exercise

Many people enjoy exercising in the water as an aerobic activity, but it’s possible to build strength by exercising in the water. Water exercise is not as effective in building muscle as is as functional exercise or Pilates, but for people recovering from injury or surgery, people with MS, and people with severe arthritis, it may be the first or indeed only choice.

Would you like to grow stronger as you grow older, improve your balance, deftly sidestep debilitating conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, and osteoporosis?

In study after study, regular exercise has been shown to improve strength, flexibility, mobility and balance in older adults. Increasingly, research shows exercise also contributes to improved cognitive function and memory. Not to mention its salutary effects on cardiovascular health!

So where to start? If you haven’t been exercising for awhile (or ever) it’s best to start slow, and it’s never too late.

What Our Clients Are Saying

I am 66 years old and have never really exercised. Almost two years ago I was diagnosed with severe osteoporosis. In 2015 it seemed like the Good Lord kept putting numerous articles in front of me that mentioned strength training—how it could really help build up bone mass. I had known Susan and her family for a number of years and when she started offering personal training, I decided to start training with her.

I feel stronger and sharper mentally since I have been working out with Susan. I’m hoping to be able to stop taking the drugs I am taking for osteoporosis. My 92-year-old mother, who has dementia, has also been working out with Susan and I have seen an improvement in her mobility, but more importantly in her mood and energy. She is truly a different person after an exercise session. I highly recommend training with Susan Longley, no matter what your age.

Linda Harrison