Karen Graham
With ten free fitness classes hosted by Millbrook Community Care, there is no excuse to sit around watching your waistline expand. They offer five different types of classes, so there is something for everyone. With the exception of the Gentle Exercise classes at the Millbrook Manor, all classes are held at St. Thomas Anglican Church on Centre Street in Millbrook and are targeted to those 60 years and over seeking to maintain or improve their physical and emotional well-being.
Community Care Fitness Instructors Lisa Purchase and Lisa Johansson deliver a variety of free fitness classes every week. Photo: Karen Graham.
New on the agenda are Yoga classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings at 9 am conducted by certified instructor Lisa Johansson, who also leads classes at the Hot Yoga studio in Peterborough. She hasrecently returned to yoga practice after surgery to aid in her recovery, and rediscovered the many benefits of this activity which combines physical postures and breathing techniques. It is also a form of exercise that can be continued later in life, making it an ideal place to start for those who have not been physically active for any reason. With a focus on safety, this 45 minute class will begin at an introductory level, and Johansson will set the pace of the class based on the interests and ability of the participants. The objectives are to increase participants’ fitness levels, balance and strength.
For the past year and a half, Lisa Purchase has been conducting most of the other fitness classes offered by Community Care in Millbrook. Purchase is trained in physical therapy and also runs programs in Lindsay and Bobcaygeon. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the classes led by Purchase begin at 9:15 with a Fun and Fit class geared to those who are already physically active. Set to music to maintain a quicker pace, this class combines cardio work with strength training exercises, and classes alternate between upper body and lower body work.
The Falls Prevention class uses therabands to increasrd the resistance in exercises designed to build strength and balance. Photo: Karen Graham.
After this class, Purchase travels to the Millbrook Manor to host the half hour Gentle Exercise classes at 10:15, returning to St. Thomas for another 11 am class. This one is a Falls Prevention class which focuses on building balance and strength and improved proprioception, which is the sense of the position of your body in space. Most of the activities in this class are performed seated in a chair, sometimes using fitness aids such as therabands to increase the resistance of each movement to intensify its results. After a short coffee break, the Dance and Stretch class begins at 12:15. No dance experience is necessary to join this fun class in which participants learn short dance routines which build their physical abilities as well as their memories…
