SilverSneakers keeps seniors active

Fitness

By Sandi Beason sandi.beason@jackson.gannett.com

Ailene Payton, center, with YMCA staffer Earline Rice, left, and SilverSneakers Account Manager Jamie Rasberry

Fitness is in her genes.

Ailene Payton, matriarch of one of Mississippi’s most famous family of athletes, still stays active at 83. She’s a member at downtown Jackson YMCA through the SilverSneakers program, which allows seniors to use their existing Medicare benefits to enroll in approved fitness centers around the country.

“All those exercises, the rubber bands and the pulling really helps,” she said. “I can tell a difference.”

She’s a regular at the Y — when she’s not traveling. She’s currently planning a trip to Chicago to attend an NFL Mother’s Gala, where, as the mom of famed running back Walter Payton, she will be the guest of honor.

She also brags on her son Eddie Payton, former NFL running back and current golf coach at Jackson State University, and her granddaughter Erica Payton, a recent high school graduate and championship golfer.

Ailene Payton has knee trouble, so these days she prefers the low-impact Silver Splash aquatic aerobics class. It’s one of four classes tailored to SilverSneakers members.

Participants in SilverSneakers get a basic gym membership, where they can take fitness classes that focus on improving strength, flexibility, balance and coordination. There are four SilverSneakers classes, and participating fitness centers offer at least one of the four:

• Muscle Strength Range of Motion, or MSROM.
“They sit in a chair but they’re moving constantly,” said Jamie Rasberry, SilverSneakers account manager. “All the time, they’re doing arm weights, resistance bands and using the ball.”

• Cardio circuit class.
This course is similar to MSROM, but participants stand the whole time. In this class, participants are at a slightly higher level of fitness.

• Yoga stretch.
The yoga stretch is similar to standard yoga courses, but lower intensity. It is chair-based.

• Silver Splash
This aquatic aerobics class is low-intensity, and offers specialized equipment. It’s offered at some SilverSneakers locations that have pools.

Each class lasts 45 minutes to an hour.

“Every (participating) fitness center teaches at least one,” Rasberry said.

As of April, there were 989 SilverSneakers members in Mississippi, and the program is growing; 40-55 new members joined per month for the last four months. And once you join the program, you can use any SilverSneakers-approved fitness center in the country.

Mississippi’s latest SilverSneakers center is The Fitness Plex, 3000 U.S. 49 in Florence.

“We’ve got about 1,000 members, and we average six visits per month,” she said, of the membership in Mississippi. “We’d like to average eight to 10 visits a month. Some people just come to the classes, but they can use anything at the gym. This is like a free gym membership for them.”

SilverSneakers members are in the 68-72-year-old range on average.

Not only is it beneficial from a health and fitness standpoint, but it also offers a way for members to socialize. Many are widowed, and for many, this is their one social outlet.

“We have get-togethers and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and Valentine’s and Christmas,” Ailene Payton said. “We go on tours and go out to eat together.

“I like all of it.”

Fitness centers in Mississippi that offer the SilverSneakers program include:

• Biloxi
Pro Gym Fitness
952 Cedar Lake Road
(228) 392-1977

• Brookhaven
The Human Performance Center
300 Hwy 51 N.
(601) 833-1084

• Byram
Courthouse Racquet & Fitness
136 Byram Pkwy. S.
(601) 372-2229

• Caledonia
Caledonia YMCA
9652 Wolfe Road
(662) 356-9622

• Clinton
Clinton Family YMCA
400 Lindale Drive
(601) 924-5812

• Columbus
Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA
602 2nd Ave. N.
(662) 328-7696

Rudy West Branch YMCA
2080 Lake Lowndes Road
(662) 328-0212

YMCA Wellness
2225 A. 5th St. N.
(662) 243-1002

• Florence
The Fitness Plex
3000 Hwy. 49
(601) 845-3800

• Flowood
Flowood Family YMCA
690 Liberty Road
(601) 664-1955