Staff writer
A concern that trainer Karen Williams hears often from potential clients is that they have bodily limitations — creaky knees, a shaky shoulder, a bad back — and they cannot do the strenuous workout she would put them through.
“There’s this nasty rumor that I’m this torturer,” Williams said. “I tailor it for my groups. If I have a beginning group, we do beginning things.”
Williams is scheduled to teach a class with the lighter side of her exercise regimen at Marion Senior Center today. She said she was planning to use most of the time for exercises including activities like passing a ball between hands above the head, standing calf raises, arm circles, simple stretching, and lifting with light weights like soup cans or water bottles.
She is planning to have specific activities for balance, a feature seniors are looking to improve.
Williams advises seniors to move every day and that exercise is cumulative — 10 minutes in the morning, afternoon, and at night is effective as 30 minutes at once. She added exercise is necessary for maintaining health.
“It might be 20 minutes every week,” she said. “Making that decision that this is important is what matters.”