Strong Bodies Classes Coming to Neillsville, Classes Start this Wednesday
Monday, September 16th, 2019 -- 12:39 PM
-The Clark County UW-Extension Office is offering the Strong Bodies class beginning next Wednesday.I spoke with Nancy Vance with the Extension Office and she explained the Strong Bodies Class in more detail.
“So, Strong Bodies is a class that’s geared toward women, primarily middle aged on up, to help with developing some muscle mass. The class is non-threatening. Most of the time it’s in community centers or places that people can easily access. It’s usually 10 exercises and then 2 balance exercises are added on to it. It’s done twice a week. An hour long. The instructors are all volunteers.”
“So, it’s meant to be a very friendly, non-threatening environment for people that maybe aren’t used to exercising or not used to lifting weights.”
Nancy explained that one of the main purposes behind this class is to help people retain their mobility and strength as they move forward into an advanced age.
“One of the biggest fears, when you start talking about weights, is people are afraid they’re going to get buffed up! And that’s not what it’s meant to do. It’s really just meant to increase strength and body muscle mass.”
“One of the biggest fears people have as they age is that you’re not going to be able to do your everyday, regular activities. And this is to help slow that aging process down, so you can be active in your senior years and continue to live a healthy lifestyle.”
“On a personal note, my mom is 94 and when I go to visit her, she’s in an independent living facility, and everybody has walkers and is very frail. So, the idea of lifting weights just to increase that strength so you can continue to open up jars or grab something off the top shelf because you have your balance, all of those everyday, regular activities that become harder as you age, this class will help extend your lifestyle in your home.”
If you’re interested in taking the classes, Nancy explained how you can get registered.
“Our first class, we’re kinda dipping our toe in the water, start on September 18th and it will meet every Wednesday and Friday for 10 weeks. So, that’s September 18th until November 15th. It’s going to be from 9am-10am at the Clark County Courthouse in the Auditorium. We’re hoping to expand. It’s a volunteer model. So, what happens is we will send volunteers to get trained as trainers for the program and then they can take that knowledge and open up another class wherever they choose. So, if somebody from Greenwood is getting trained, they might want to bring it to the Greenwood community.”
“And so it kind of expands a little bit in that way. Because I’m just not physically able to teach them all. I have a map and it shows where all the classes are held. And it really bothered me because there was a big whole where Clark County is and it’s so successful in all the outlying counties that surround us. And I knew this is why it had to be here. Especially when we're talking about a class. There’s that social piece to it as well. When people are coming to a class, they get to know each other. It’s a bit of a commitment, so when people aren’t showing up, you’re going to check on them. So, in rural communities it’s a wonderful program, not just for physical strength, but also for those social connections that we know are important.”
“So, we brought it to Neillsville and we may have another in the Thorp area pretty soon. And we’re hoping to fill up the county with classes.”
There is a small cost for the class.
“The cost is $20 for the 10 weeks. When we get trained as trainers, we have to sign a waiver that says ‘any funds that are collected from these classes will go back into the Strong Bodies Class.’ So, your $20 will help us to continue to buy the weights, continue to buy the mats and all the things to bring the program to other communities.”
“So, we don’t make any money off this and if $20 is a barrier, then we want to talk to you about somehow removing that barrier. Because it’s more important that you’re in class than us having the $20.”
Nancy also provided some figures in regards to weight training and your health and Extension’s goal in trying to improve your quality of life and bettering the community.
“I’d like to say that it’s recommended that all adults should be weight training at least 2 times a week. We know about cardio exercise and how important that is. But we’re also supposed to be supplementing that with weight training. And only 7% of women in this age group do any type of weight training exercise, so there’s a huge gap. And UW-Extension is trying to meet the needs of the community by providing an effective, safe program for all community members.”
“So, when you think of Extension, you don’t think of a weight training class in our wheelhouse! But, in reality, if it’s going to improve quality of life and make it a better community because we have healthier people living here, than Extension is all in! And you’ll see in other counties that there’s a lot of partnerships with the Health Department or maybe the Aging Department. And in Clark County, we’re going to be doing it through Extension and see where it takes us.”
“And also the benefits of this class is that not only will your increase strength and muscle mass, but you’ll increase bone density. And we know that osteoporosis is something that post-menopausal women suffer with and so it will improve that and it will improve your balance. So, because of this, you have a decreased risk of things like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, blood pressure and even some cancers.”
Nancy ended our interview by stating that the goal of the class if for you to start with what you’re comfortable with and they just want to see you improve.
“It’s so important. And even if you’ve never exercised before, starting out it’s going to be your comfort zone. You’re going to determine what you’re comfortable with. We’re not going to say, ‘you have to pick up the 10 pound weights!’ We’ll have everything from 2 pounds to 12 pound weights and we want to see you improve! So, you start wherever you’re comfortable with and within 10 weeks, you’ll see that you’ve probably move up some and then we’ll have you sign up for our winter class and just continue going until you’ll be a leader yourself and have your own class!”
“I’m so happy to be able to finally bring this to Clark County. Even if you’ve never done it and you’re worried, just give us a call and we’ll talk about it. Unfortunately though, once the class starts, that’s kind of it. We can’t have you starting in October or November. So, this is the one class until, probably January. So, do it! Don’t wait!”
Once again, the class begins next Wednesday, September 18 and runs Wednesdays and Fridays until November 15th. The classes are from 9am-10am in the Clark County Courthouse Auditorium here in Neillsville.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.