Care Home Residents Get Their Strength In Numbers

British Weight Lifting are currently working with older adult wellbeing expert Oomph to provide an innovative fitness programme targeting over 55’ to help individuals achieve their Strength In Numbers.

Oomph! aims to tackle inactivity and loneliness with its national plan to get 27,000 older adults doing regular, fun exercise within two years. Training is already well underway for workers and volunteers in venues catering for independent older adults such as retirement villages and housing associations - equipping them with the skills, knowledge and adapted equipment to run sports classes with an element of healthy competition. Venues from Lancashire to Hertfordshire will start running modified sports classes this week. The small start-up, well-known in the care home industry for operating exercise classes and outings, is one of the largest delivery partners of Sport England’s £10m Active Ageing Fund.

All activities have been designed to be run by instructors, who will undergo comprehensive training. British Weight Lifting have designed resistance exercises using foam pool noodles and recommends the use of everyday objects such as water bottles as hand weights to allow pensioners to keep up their strength.

Government guidelines recommend older adults to do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or walking every week and strength exercises on 2 or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)

Ben Allen, CEO of Oomph! said:

“By ‘gamifying’ exercise for older adults we’re making it fun and sociable rather than functional. We already use sports rather than pure exercise to motivate previously reluctant participants to join our classes on a regular basis. However, this new combination of Oomph!’s expertise with the appeal and competitive edge of professional sports bodies, is game-changing.”

For further details on the Strength In Numbers project please click here