Thanks to an instructor training grant and support from the National Park & Recreation Association (NRPA), RAPRD is offering Fit & Strong, a class that has been designed based on a number of scientific studies to help people who want to be more active but have joint pain and stiffness to become more active.  Fit & Strong combines strength training, aerobic conditioning, and arthritis self-management education in a 12 week class to gradually introduce health and fitness concepts so that even participants with a lot of mobility challenges will be able to start to see changes and learn to maintain a more active lifestyle.

Living and working in a seated position for many hours can also create pain and stiffness that a more active lifestyle can help remedy.  However, many people suffering from health problems that limit their physical activity don’t know how to make the behavior changes they need to start to feel better.  Developing strength and balance is not just something everyone is born knowing how to do, and it is especially difficult to learn if your ability to move is limited enough that you can’t keep up in more intense fitness classes.

The developers of Fit & Strong worked with researchers to study how people can best learn these skills and improve their strength, balance, flexibility, and endurance.  They looked at how many times per week, how many hours of class, which exercises, and what learning topics were most effective at helping participants stick with the program and make the physical gains and behavioral shifts they need to make to become more active in the long term – not only for the length of the program.

Fit & Strong is more than a fitness class.  In addition to doing exercises within the four walls of a fitness studio, participants will learn about health and fitness, joint conditions, and what behaviors are harmful and helpful in easing pain and stiffness.  While all of our fitness instructors are qualified and willing to provide information, education, and explanations after our regular fitness classes, often these few minutes after class are not ideal for in-depth learning.   

In Fit & Strong, the fitness portion of the class is complemented by a dedicated educational portion, complete with a personal workbook where participants can discuss their goals and obstacles and track their learning and achievements.  Our Fit & Strong instructors have received special training to implement a behavior-change curriculum that meets the needs of participants with limited mobility seeking a more active lifestyle.

Reinforcing fitness with dedicated, guided education means that participants are not only doing, they understand why they are doing what they are doing.  This helps participants achieve longer-term behavioral change – transitioning from an inactive lifestyle to one that safely and gradually incorporates more physical activity in a way that studies show is the best way to learn and maintain over time.

Safe, controlled physical activity can help ease the symptoms of arthritis and other joint conditions.   Fit & Strong puts you in the driver’s seat by giving you tools to manage your health ease your pain through gentle exercises based on evidence and behavior changes based on education.

The deadline to sign-up for our next session is January 2, 2019.  Come by the Cascade Swim Center or the Activity Center to register.