As the transition from spring to summer shifts into high gear, residents at Roland Park Place, a Metropolitan Senior Living community in Baltimore, took advantage of the developing dog days by breaking a sweat in their courtyard for National Senior Health and Fitness Day on May 29.
The festivities commenced with two popular fitness classes: Fit for Life and cardio drumming.
“We had started [cardio drumming] about a year ago, and it’s really grown since then,” said Kiril Apostolov, vice president of operations at Roland Park Place. “It’s one of the funnest things, seeing everybody jamming out to the music, drumming on these humongous, big medicine balls. Seeing everybody laughing and enjoying themselves was my favorite part.”
After the rejuvenating warmup, the residents moved on to a friendly but fierce cornhole competition. The subsequent tournament was such a success that it has inspired a sequel to be played down the road.
“The goal of that tournament was to create an activity that gave residents the opportunity to move and to interact socially with their friends in the community,” Apostolov said. “It was so popular that we had overwhelming demand to organize our first annual cornhole tournament here at the community, which we’re doing sometime this month after morning activities are done.”
The activities were not restricted to promoting physical health. Mental and emotional health were also on the docket in the form of a visit from Pets on Wheels, with healthy mocktails in hand as well as rounds of Name that Tune and fitness trivia. Four-legged friends such as dogs, cats and rabbits provided participants with plenty of snuggles and smiles, and the brain teasers stimulated their minds.
Apostolov is quick to note that physical, mental and emotional health are interconnected. At Roland Park Place, staff members work to make sure they are exercised every day, not just once a year, he said.
“We like to say that every day is Senior Health and Fitness Day. Our residents are always engaging with fitness and wellness programming just through our daily activities,” Apostolov said. “Mental health stems from physical activity. That’s why we offer activities that promote the physical, mental and emotional well-being of all of our residents.”
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