As we learned in Foundations, each signature SilverSneakers class targets health- and skill-related goals. BOOM MUSCLE aims to improve specific components in the following ways:
- Flexibility – There are many ways to train for flexibility. Even when the primary purpose of the exercise is to build endurance through resistance training, putting a joint through a range of motion can increase flexibility in that joint and surrounding tissues. Each MUSCLE class contains targeted resistance work and a dedicated stretching segment.
- Strength – Resistance training increases both muscle mass and bone density, the maintenance of each being critical as we age. Increased muscle mass also increases metabolic rate, helping the body to burn calories more efficiently. Each MUSCLE class includes specific segments for muscular strength and endurance improvement.
- Endurance – Participants who enjoy activities like golf, hiking and canoeing require endurance training to remain competitive and active. The action-packed segments of MUSCLE train specifically for cardiovascular endurance.
- Core Conditioning – All exercises in MUSCLE are performed with a strong, stable core. Proper form while lifting weights works core muscles and reinforces good posture.
- Functional Movement Patterns – Including movements such as bend and lift, upper body push and pull exercises, rotational work and squats will help participants with the challenges of everyday life. Your participants want to continue tennis or racquetball matches with their friends and the occasional basketball game with the grandkids. These activities all require quick reflexes, direction changes and the ability to maintain balance while shifting weight. The inclusion of action intervals in MUSCLE is a fun way to work on this skill.
- Sense of Well-Being – Participants not only build muscle and bone density in this class, they build confidence, too. Since MUSCLE classes encourage participants to move at their own intensity level, each member leaves class with a feeling of success and improved sense of well-being.
- Skills for Fall Prevention – Exercise selection that includes multi-planar movement helps participants stay stronger and prevent falls. Action-based choreography challenges fitness skills in a non-traditional way by targeting balance, power, agility, speed, and coordination with activities inspired by familiar movement patterns.
- Cognitive Health – High-level coordination drills and reaction time exercises are a great way to enhance cognition and brain health. Coordination drills include movements where the upper and lower body work independently of one another, movements that cross the mid-line of the body, as well as movements that require focus and concentration due to complexity. In both the action and muscle conditioning segments of MUSCLE, we train for an improvement in the brain-body connection.