Healthy and strong for life  

You probably know the feeling. Your back complains, your knees hurt, or it's just a little harder to get out of bed in the morning. As we age, our bodies, muscles and nerves age too. In fact, muscle mass starts to decrease even before the age of 40.

But there is good news! Even as we age, we can still do a lot to keep our bodies strong and keep our muscles and nerves talking to each other.

They know all about this at Agora Gardens, where exercise and movement are an important part of everyday life for many residents. And exercise is just more fun when done in the company of others. Bente Møller, who lives in the Sophushaven community in Slagelse, is an instructor in several of the Agora gardens on Zealand together with her training colleague Carina. Every week they provide an hour of good and effective training for the residents. The training is a mix of strength, mobility and flexibility training; all important factors for maintaining functional ability in old age; the ability to perform everyday tasks such as shopping, cleaning, climbing stairs, etc. and thus remain independent of outside help for longer.

Strength training and fitness for seniors  

The good news is that it's never too late to start exercising. Studies show that even if you start at a late age, you can still progress and improve.

As with most things in life, it's important to start at a level that suits you and your body. And it's getting started that getting started is often the biggest challenge - and often because of a belief that it's too late. But at Agora Gardens In the Agora gardens, the socializing around exercise helps residents get started.

The training is not based on special exercises for seniors, but is classic fitness training with abdominal exercises, squats, rows and lunges - with or without weights. "We don't do specific fitness training for seniors, but we scale the training so that everyone can participate," says Bente, and elaborates: "The training starts with a joint warm-up. Then we do some breathing exercises, then flexibility, then strength, core and finally stretching. You can stand up and do the exercises, you can lie down and do them, or you can sit on a chair and do them. Same exercise for everyone, but at different levels".

"Training here in the Agora gardens creates not only physical health but also a sense of community - and the joy of discovering that you can do much more than you think. We see the participants improve with every hour we spend together, and we hear from the participants that they feel much better and stronger in their everyday lives. Some may start with only being able to go down two centimeters in the squat to suddenly being able to do a perfect squat - it's a pleasure to witness," adds Carina.

Strength in everyday life - and fewer accidents 

The benefits of strength training and fitness for older people are basically the same as for everyone else. When we lift something heavy, we stimulate our muscles to get bigger and stronger. And beyond the obvious benefits of maintaining functional ability in everyday life, exercise can also be of great importance in avoiding falls - and having the strength to get back up if an accident should occur. For both Karina and Bente, it's important to continue strength training - even as they get older. They know the importance of staying physically active and not just sitting on the couch at home, even if you've finished your working life. And fortunately, strength training in the Agora gardens is not all hard work.

"We laugh and we have fun together. Everyone is just so happy when we train. We're good to each other, praise and pull each other along. It's a really good community, and it's great to see that everyone feels good and is on when they train. It's just a great experience," the two training women conclude in unison.

Train effectively as a senior - Bente and Carina's tips for a healthy and strong body

• One exercise we spend a lot of time doing is 'standing on tiptoe and slowly coming back down'. It builds strength and balance - and reduces the risk of a broken ankle if we should happen to trip and fall.

• Balance is important - it needs to be trained for life. That's why we also train standing on one leg. We want to be able to stand for at least 10 seconds. It sounds strange, but we've heard that it's scientifically proven that if you can stand on one leg for at least 10 seconds, you live longer.

• We find that many people hold their breath when they have to lift something heavy. That's why we also train breathing because it gives us extra strength and enables us to lift heavier if we use our breathing correctly.

• It's great to be cardio-active, and we've noticed that many people - especially men - cycle a lot. But it's also important to include strength. It's what allows us to keep walking, avoid the walker and take the stairs - even at a late age.

• Training is not just training. Exercise is social, physiological and biological, and many things improve after exercise. For example, we find that our participants sleep better and experience less stress in everyday life after training.