Strength and Balance Class for Adults 55+

Strength and Balance Class for adults 55+ taught by physical therapist, Nick Rech.

This class is for folks wanting to feel more confident in their strength and balance in daily life. We encourage strengthening muscles and improving balance to make daily life easier, fun and enjoyable.

We welcome those who are new to exercising or who haven’t done much exercise in a long time. Our ideal new member is someone who knows they need to start making a change in their health and fitness but doesn’t know where to start or needs the accountability and support that a group setting provides to be able to stay on track. Most of the members of the Strength and Balance Class have previously only done walking for exercise.

The new Strength and Balance Class is specifically for those who are new to exercise. Especially for folks 55+ where maintaining strength and balance starts to become really important to remain independent.

Classes are taught by physical therapist, Nick Rech, who specializes in working with adults 55+.  Every workout is designed specifically for the ability and needs of people 55+ to help them to be able to improve their strength, balance and mobility to continue to do the things they love well into retirement. We really focus on having this be a community and something our members enjoy and look forward to. Our goal is for folks 55+ to be fit, healthy and out enjoying life. Improving your balance to avoid falling is good but why stop there? A lot of people want to be active with their grandkids and be out traveling. This class will help you do that. 

We can get away with not taking great care of our bodies when we are younger. But for most people, once the 50-60’s and beyond start rolling around, that health we took for granted is not going to be there unless we are intentional about it.

A lot of what I do as a physical therapist is help folks with their strength and balance and oftentimes people can become very deconditioned and weak before seeking help. If a person has the desire they can often improve at any age but these improvements can take a long time and sometimes time is not on their side when their family or physician is deciding if they can still live at home or if they need to go to a facility.

So I wanted to start reaching folks sooner to prevent them having to go through some of these hardships or delay them so they have more quality of life years. Quality of life years may not be something you have heard of but you should and it intuitively makes sense. It’s not just about how long you live. It’s about the quality of that time.

And for most of us, if we are not intentional about what we are doing to ensure a high quality of life in our later years, we are likely not going to be happy where we end up.

So this Strength and Balance Class is one way to increase those quality of life years. The group we have now is an awesome group of ladies who are all committed to improving their physical fitness. You’re gonna sweat a little bit but we also have fun! Men are welcome too! But so far none have been brave enough to try it.

Class is every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:15am at CrossFit GI. 411 S. Webb Rd in Grand Island. It's on the corner of Webb and Highway 30 on the south end of the Island Flooring building.

Come give it a try. The first class is free!

This is what our members are saying about it:

"My main motivation for exercise class was to get physically stronger and to maintain good flexibility throughout my body. As I have participated in this class for several months, not only am I physically stronger, more flexible... I experienced a large increase in physical energy and uplifted mood.

My husband says he doesn't ever want me to quit, because exercising with this group makes me happy!" -Beth Stecker

"I knew I needed strength training.  My son had been trying to get me to join but I felt it might be for younger people.  When I saw that a friend of mine had joined CrossFit, I knew I had to try it.  I joined the Strength and Balance Class and loved it!!!

The time frame is great.  Twice a week from 10:15-11:00 is perfect. Honestly, it has been so much fun re-connecting with people from high school who are on the same fitness journey as me.  Nick is an amazing coach and everything is geared to our own strengths and abilities.  I was encouraged to try other classes and I have and will continue to go to them (even if I am the oldest one in them).  But I plan on staying in this class, too.  Nick is so supportive of us and we support each other.  This class has shown me that being strong and fit is so important as we age and that it is NEVER too late to start." - Jenny McDermott

"My motivation is that I really enjoy these classes and have seen a subtle change in my strength, balance and coordination. The exercises also get my heart rate up and blood moving. When you can see and feel the difference, it is a big motivator.

The class is a lot of fun. It fits my time frame nicely as it is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:15 am - 11:00 am.  The major reason though that I like the class is the variety of exercises; Nick incorporates exercises for balance, flexibility and strength using medicine balls, weights, cycling and other equipment. We also do exercises that move our joints with full ranges of motion which helps  improve our stability and keeps our joints healthy and to some degree, pain free. Once we know the exercise, we do our reps which really gets all of us sweating!!! Nick's classes are so much more fun and valuable than going to a gym and lifting weights and trying to figure out what is best for you, Nick does it all for us. We have opportunities to ask for help to make sure we are doing the exercise correctly. I really love the warm up exercises we do each morning as well, as there are a variety of balance exercises and coordination exercises which help us move better as we age; balance and coordination prevents falls and injuries and that is a major concern for me now that I am older.  I want to remain independent and to be able to move around more freely and these classes are helping me do that." - Kathy Nonneman

"As I get older, I realize each day is really a gift given and I want to be able to enjoy the moments of my life.  I know I haven’t always taken the best care of myself physically as I got older.  My motivation is to be able to get stronger, move better, improve my balance, and be able to get up and down off the floor without surveying my surroundings for a table or footstool to help me get up!  To sum it up, I want to enjoy each day, and not be a burden to my kids or grandkids.  I want to be able to enjoy life and activities with them and my family and friends.

Our instructor, Nick, is so patient, encouraging and helpful with teaching this class according to our abilities.  I never feel like I’m totally out of place, and this helps with my confidence to keep trying.  I love our classmates, who are family and friends (new and old).  I can already see improvements in my balance which makes me happy. - Kim Mettenbrink

"I come to class to improve my balance, strength, weight and overall body. Having grandkids inspires me to get fit to keep up with them. I also like the atmosphere that is created with all the ladies working out." - Darla Heeren