Sue Schwartz

Bethany Garrity of the National Institute of Fitness Sports (NIFS) shared her expertise and passion in helping active living communities create places that improve lives. She helped us understand how exercise principles of functional fitness combined with functional facility design help CWPV homeowners achieve energizing, complete and balanced solutions in wellness.

NIFS’ pitch to retirement communities is two-fold. First, it offers help in choosing and arranging equipment for seniors — as opposed to the working adults who are the target of most makers of exercise equipment used in fitness centers.

For example, NIFS recommends equipment that uses hydraulic pressure to increase resistance, so seniors don’t injure themselves while adjusting weights on fitness equipment. “You can’t just take your experience working with a 40-year-old and apply it to an 80-year-old,” said Bethany Garrity, NIFS’ director of fitness management.

We learned why staffing is critical and should not be a do-it-yourself venture, discovered how well-designed programs help more people participate, why data is so important and how to use it to help participants measure their progress and why an architect and design firm may not be best suited to plan your fitness space.

Life is busy, and many of you were unable to find time to attend Bethany’s presentation Open the Door to Better Health and Wellness. We have a solution. Visit our website at www.cwpvconnections.com and take our confidential four-question survey and, in return, we will send you an electronic copy of Bethany’s presentation.