Transformative Fitness for Older Adults: Erin Eleuterio Journey and Insights

This paradox , as I view it , is the trust , interaction and communication gap that exists between fitness professionals and our medical community . This podcast is all about closing off that gap by disseminating the latest , most evidence-based and most engaging information in the health sciences . And to do that , in episode 126 , we're joined by Erin E Luterio .

Erin runs a podcast called Second Act Fit Pros that she was nice enough to have me on , and this podcast highlights people who are taking second careers after retirement as exercise professionals and fitness professionals , which I think is an amazing concept , and we're going to dive deep into that and just training the aging mature adult a little bit further in this

episode . You know we've talked about this population many times on the podcast and how important I think it is that exercise professionals serve the aging adult .

Again , they are the fastest growing demographic in our country , so we're going to get into some topics that we have talked about before on the podcast , but they're going to come from a very different perspective and I really think Aaron and I view what exercise professionals can be doing for the aging adult population through a very , very similar lens .

Any information we'd like to share with you from today's episode can be found on the show notes page that's been going to wellnessparadoxpodcom forward slash episode one , two , six . Please enjoy this conversation with Aaron E Luterio Today . We're delighted to be joined by Erin E Luterio . Erin , thank you so much for joining us on the Wellness Paradox .

Yeah , thanks for having me . So I should actually be primarily thanking you because you were the one that reached out to me initially to be on your podcast . Second Act Fit Pros that we'll talk about a little bit more in a second here , and so I'm really excited to have this chat with you .

We're kind of flipping positions from the last time we talked here over Zoom . Before we dive into the discussion around your podcast and all of the learnings that you had , why don't you just tell our audience a little bit more about your background to provide some context for our conversation ?

So out of college I got a job working as an exercise physiologist at a cardiac rehab hospital-based facility . Most of the people there were 75 and over and had chronic conditions and I got to witness firsthand the value that exercise was providing to these people and their quality of life .

It was a much different image than what I had seen working in commercial gyms throughout college and I could really just see how much this was changing their lives . I loved working in that facility . It was also a little bit sad too , because people were older and they would pass away and that was a really , really hard part of the job for me .

But from there I got a job working at Silver Sneakers as an account manager .

So it was still within this realm of working with older adults , but it was more on the business side of things and I was working with participating locations as well as our partnered health plans and helping to promote the program and drive participation in the program with our participating locations .

So it was still within the older adult realm and I still had to you know , got to witness firsthand how much exercise in this program was changing older adults' lives . So it was a really positive program . I really loved being a part of it program .

I really love being a part of it and , you know , took a little break from the whole fitness world and came back to it and just really decided I really wanted to double down on working with older adults because I really loved how fitness for this population was opening up their world and it was improving their quality of life .

They were able to do things that they wanted to do and they were able to engage in life that was meaningful for them . So I've taken a focus on that . I now work with older adults in group settings at a senior center and a senior living facility .

But this is the population that I really love working with and I just find it so meaningful and fulfilling and that's where I'm at right now .

You know all kinds of different people , but very quickly , it sounds like thanks to a mentor that pointed you in the direction , you started working with seniors right away , which that is a little bit atypical and it seems to have formed your career path .

I didn't really think I was going to do that . But you know , this exercise physiologist job opened up and it kind of pushed me right into that world and I didn't really think that I was something I really wanted to focus on until I got in there and I was like , oh , this is really really meaningful stuff .

So , yeah , it was taking that getting that exposure to really sell me on the fact that that was the population that I wanted to work with .

in health and fitness , empowering people over 50 to thrive through movement and improved health . Did I get all that ?

One I was meeting people in this field that had taken on a second act career in health and fitness and they were retired and they didn't want to do the whole nine to five thing and they wanted something with more flexibility , but they still wanted that social interaction and being a part of their community and they found opportunities within health , fitness ,

promoting physical activity in a variety of ways , and I kept seeing this show up and I thought these stories need to be highlighted and it was everything from locally . There's a boomers rock climbing club and there's a gentleman that's a retired geophysicist and that's what he does now .

He leads a boomers rock climbing club and I had met a gentleman that was 74 at a continuing education workshop and he does group training with people and he's a retired teacher .

And I just kept meeting these people and I thought this is really important to highlight this as a second act career , because we have this trend of unretirement going on now where people over 65 don't want to quit working and they want to go back to work and I think the latest research that I've seen is like 39% of those people want to go back to work but

they don't want to do the nine to five thing .

They want to do something different , and a lot of the things that people are missing is that social interaction and that community that you get from work , and so I didn't think that there was enough highlights on in this industry , on ways that you can be involved , that is flexible and it doesn't necessarily have to be a fitness professional .

I've certainly highlighted people that are personal trainers but , like the rock climbing club , I highlighted a lady that is in her seventies and she leads low flying trapeze classes for women in their you know , sixties , seventies , eighties , that you know , they saw her and they're like oh , I didn't think I can do that , I didn't think I knew , I thought I was

too quote too old to do that . So they're they're doing , they're finding meaningful careers in this field and I thought that that was really worth highlighting . The other thing that I had experienced through my work experience at Silver Sneakers was I would look at participating locations reports .

I got to see their utilization reports , how many visits they were getting , their retention numbers , and I would consult with those participating locations to help drive those numbers and a lot of those locations that had really great numbers . They had high utilization , high retention numbers .

I would go in and I would look at their classes and see what they were doing and there was this trend that they would . A lot of those places had older adult instructors teaching to their silver sneakers and sometimes it was the silver sneakers members that were a silver sneakers instructor . And those instructors and leaders were brilliant at creating communities .

They had this knack for it that they would come in and it was more than an exercise class . They would go in and they were building relationships with those people in class and they would do things outside of class . They would have potlucks , they would have , you know , phone numbers for everybody and it became a place of friendship and this hub of community .

And I felt like those more mature instructors were naturals at that and that's what was driving those participating locations . Utilization was that they just had these instructors that were so committed to serving that demographic . So I think that that was . Another reason is that I feel like getting a more mature population in here .

We're bringing people in that have those relationship skills that can build community and that's where it lies when people are coming into a place where they feel like they belong , they're cared about , they're listened to .

That's how we keep people engaged in physical activity and exercise and when , ways to be involved in this field , because I think they possess a lot of those soft skills that make people really successful in this field .

I think primarily , I think , this thought of telling these stories and shining a spotlight on them , because I think that your average person walking down the street or walking in the mall right now , if you said personal trainer , exercise professional , they envision some 25-year-old in shape , dire gal , right out of college , and so I think that people who are looking

for second careers probably assume on some level it's not approachable because it's not the avatar they have in their brain for this kind of person . So I think the fact that you're shining a spotlight on not just exercise in the traditional sense , but in all the different forms of physical activity and movement , I think that that's so important .

And you said what I have thought for years , which is wow , wouldn't it be great if we could have people that were a little bit more mature , who looked like and had lifestyles like the people that we wanted to serve , who were aging adults ? What if we had those people , and how amazing would that be ?

You know , the mission that you're on to highlight these stories does also a lot of good for the industry , because it allows us to recruit from a group of people for professionals that we otherwise wouldn't have . So I just I think it's a very , very interesting premise for a podcast and I'm grateful that you're actually telling these stories .

Well , you should know about so-and-so doing this thing and it's just opened up my whole idea in mind to all the different ways that people are getting involved in this and it's just been really exciting and really inspiring .

This is why I started my podcast , because , quite frankly , like I'm a very curious person and I want to solve big problems and I felt like the best way to do that was talk to the best and the brightest people , and I've learned so much from so many of our guests , and that's really where I want to drill down on .

Next is that you've talked to a wide variety of people on a wide variety of things . I was not expecting the trapeze fitness class , so you've obviously learned a lot . What are some of the most important lessons that you have learned from your guests that you'd like to share with our audience ?

I didn't know that there's this large population of 70-plus year olds doing rock climbing in my community and a lot of times people limit themselves based on age alone , and there's this great quote that we are limited more by our beliefs than by age itself .

And when we see people that are doing things later in life that we didn't think you know was possible or on our you know , on our radar , it's incredibly inspiring .

I think those stories need to be continue to be shared , and a lot of these people are showing how they're filling gaps in services , and so there wasn't a circus arts for older adults , so this lady came in and did that . There's people that are teaching to subsidize housing senior subsidized housing because they didn't see if there was wellness programs there .

So that's the thing that I've learned that sharing those stories are important and showing how people are filling gaps in their communities and seeing where people aren't getting access to physical activities or different movement experiences , and if you're seeing that gap , you're probably the best person to fill that gap and to offer those experiences and opportunities for

people in your community .

As many of you know , the wellness paradox is all about closing off the trust , interaction and communication gap between fitness professionals and the medical community , and no organization does that better than the Medical Fitness Association . They are the professional member association for the Medical Fitness Association .

They are the professional member association for the medical fitness industry . This is the industry that integrates directly with healthcare in many facilities throughout the entire country . The MFA is your go-to source for all things medical fitness . They provide newsletters , webinars . They even have standards and guidelines for medical fitness facilities .

They do events around the entire country and , most importantly , they are one of the more engaging networks in the entire fitness industry . I personally have benefited from the network that I've developed through the Medical Fitness Association and I highly recommend that all of you that are interested in solving the wellness paradox engage with the MFA .

To find out more about the Medical Fitness Association , you can go to their website medicalfitnessorg . That's medicalfitnessorg . Now back to today's episode .

Yeah , I think the filling the gap is so important because there are a lot of gaps out there and I think when people have been in the industry at a younger age , I don't think they always perceive some of those gaps and areas where people are underserved or not served at all .

I'm curious to drill down on a couple of things that you've touched on thus far , because I think it's a really important part of the message of working with any population , but particularly a more mature and aging population . You talked a lot about community earlier and I'm curious about your observations regarding the importance of that .

We've recently had Sarah Lentz-Lachan from the AARP on the podcast who talked about the role that community and connection plays in cutting the risk of Alzheimer's by 50% and other forms of cognitive decline significantly .

The Surgeon General , it seems like he's on a mission right now to go on every podcast unfortunately not yours or mine yet , but on every other podcast to talk about the epidemic of loneliness that's happening .

What's your observations from the people you've talked to about the importance of community and connection that are being fostered by these exercise leaders that are in the later parts of their life ?

It's not just here we're going to move and exercise , but they notice that importance of creating community so we're really helped . They're helping people while being on two fronts on that loneliness , connectivity part of it , and keeping them physically active .

So I think that the people that are in this later in life they see the importance of that and it's not just let's exercise together but let's build connectivity together . And I keep hearing this come over and over again with my podcast guests .

Like the rock climbing club , these people are getting together and they have friendships and that extends beyond and in their experiences that they're offering to really offer opportunities for people to connect . They know that it goes beyond just exercising the body .

So I think when you see that importance and you're offering space for people to connect with each other and not just exercise , then we've really helped those people's well-beings on multiple fronts and it is so important and I'm so glad that I think more mature people see that , Whereas when I was younger , when I started teaching my 20s , it's all about the exercise

, it's all about go hard , and with this population , I think sometimes that social part is just as important , maybe even more important , than the physical part .

For so long I think we've treated this population with kid gloves and you know , let's give them the three to five pound dumbbells or the resistance bands and let's sit them in a chair , and you know that really flies in the face of a lot of the research that's been done contemporarily , but even more than that , like kind of what you see with your own eyes .

So what have you learned from both your own experience as an exercise professional but from your podcast about the capability of the aging adult relative to kind of what the standard paradigm of frailty is as people age ?

Let's sit in a chair and have tiny dumbbells , um , and that image needs to keep being in front of people . I don't think we can get enough of that , um .

So I think when you have this peer-to-peer interaction and maybe people are thinking , all I think of you know , when I think of older adult exercises , chair and tiny dumbbells and somebody's coming in and offering a different experience , like what that's communicating to that population is , you know , I believe you can do this and this is where you do it at and

I'm here to lead you through that experience . So I think it's so important for us to really open our mind up to the capabilities of this group and so many times I think a lot of our environment and our culture really pigeonholes them into being this like frail .

You know , we do think chairs , tiny dumbbells and the environments that we put people in communicates our beliefs and their capabilities . A lot of times , and I see a lot of times .

I work at a senior living facility and I wrote an article about this and they have a little cart with tiny dumbbells on it and every class you go into is chairs , and I'm thinking , like what does that tell the residents there ?

Like it's telling the residents , this is all we think you are capable of and this is what we have for you , for exercise equipment and the environment that we put people in is so important because it's telling people like our beliefs in them , and when we give them challenges and when we step up what we're giving them for physical activity and experiences , they

will rise to that level , and so I think it's important that we're having people in this field that are elevating that and have a different idea on what this population is capable of , either because they're doing it themselves or just we , as fitness professionals , know that we can go beyond chairs and tiny dumbbells , and we have to .

We have to if we're going to increase the quality of life for these people and keep them strong and capable .

How do you , as an exercise professional work with someone who is apprehensive about getting up out of the chair and grabbing something heavier than the three or four pound dumbbell ? How do you approach that psychologically ? Because I feel like that can be a challenge in a lot of cases .

I want them to believe that in themselves before they you know , before they do that . But I also think sometimes , you know , sometimes what I've done is I've kind of I don't know the best way to say this , I don't tricking isn't the right word , but like it kind of tried to sidestep what people think that they're capable of .

A lot of times I see this with lifting weights , especially with women lifting weights , you know they'll go . They automatically go for three pound dumbbells or four pound dumbbells and you try to get them to think about . Um , I call ADLs activities of daily lifting . You're lifting weights all day long , you just don't know it .

So that gallon of milk you know your grandbaby like these things way more than the dumbbell that you're picking up .

Um , so you know , let's , let's try challenging ourselves and find something that's a little bit challenging , because that's where you're going to see the improvements and what I've done in class sometimes is I don't have I don't let them see a dumbbell .

I've done like weighted shopping bags and pallets of water bottles , because these are things that we need to lift in our daily lives and I know that they're probably lifting more doing that than if I had them choose a dumbbell . But I want them to see how what we're doing in class completely translates to what they're doing in their day-to-day activities .

So that idea of challenging ourselves , what we get out of challenging ourselves , but also just getting them to see how much they're doing throughout their day and but also never pushing them into that and and really making sure that they are choosing their journey and I and this is where that peer-to-peer interaction helps too when they see their peers , you know ,

challenging themselves and lifting a little bit heavier than they want to do that . Because , again , so many times people say well , you can do that because you're younger than me or I can't do it because I'm this age , and it's like those are completely limiting beliefs based on age , alone , just age , and there's nothing else that validates that belief .

So , listening to them , autonomy and giving them little challenges .

And I think all of us in life need someone in our life that shows us that we're maybe a little bit more capable than what we thought they were .

And so I think that those are very the methods that you discussed you know , grocery bags and things like that , where it doesn't have the weight painted right on the side such a creative way to kind of get them to open their mind in terms of what they're actually capable of . Yeah , yeah .

So I want to start to get , as we kind of bring this to a close , I want to start to get kind of tactical on a couple of levels . I first want to start with you know , existing fitness professionals , but then , you know , maybe we could talk about the second act , fit pros that you work with on and tell stories of on your podcast .

What would be your biggest pieces of advice you can give to current fitness professionals right now about working with the aging adult population . What would those be ?

use . I really try to listen to how the people that I'm working with talk about themselves and listen for limiting beliefs . My balance is bad .

I can't do that because I'm this age and getting them to , to inviting a different dialogue , you know , maybe your balance isn't bad , but maybe you're here because you want to improve your balance or , um , you know you're 80 or whatever is .

You can't do this activity , but maybe there's another entry point to really listening for those limiting beliefs and how much of those revolve just around age alone and how much we can gently challenge that with them .

Um , and you know , going into the second act thing , if we're working with older adults and getting more of that mature population into this field , that starts with us on a grassroots level , recruiting them .

So think of your clients as maybe a future colleague of yours , because they know they've been a client , they've had personal training , they've been to your classes , they're dedicated , they've seen the quality of life that exercise gives them , like what a great testimony and what a great person to lead this . So think of your clients as a possible colleague .

So if I'm maybe a facility owner operator out there and I'm thinking about , well , yeah , this actually could be a great way for me to meet some of my recruiting or employment challenges , I guess the next question I would ask you is , if I'm that person and I go up to one of my members and start to talk to them about this , I think one of the first

questions they're going to ask is well , how am I going to learn ? Where am I going to go to learn ? I've never learned any of this stuff , even though I've done it myself . Do you have any direction that you would point those people in , for resources , for people that are in their second act as a fit pro to learn ?

But I also I always recommend if they really want to be in like the fitness realm and in a in more of a fitness professional capacity , then they're looking to those credential , you know certification , accredited certifications , as a place to start the ACSM , the NSCA , things like that .

They really want to become more of a personal trainer or group exercise instructor , to look to those agencies to get those credentials . Functional Aging Institute has also got some great resources for people that really want to specifically work with the older adult clientele . So I have them start there .

But I do think it's really important to get clear on where do they want to do .

There's a lot , there's plenty of group exercise formats there that you don't need to have like a personal training certification , but it's just simply getting trained in that format and then teaching and bringing that to your community , and there's a lot of there's a storage of that for sure .

I've seen it firsthand in my own community where they want to offer community service centers , ymcas . They want to offer fall prevention programs , parkinson's wellness programs , and they don't have anybody to teach and and this is where we can tap into this retire . These retirees that don't want to , you know , work the nine to five .

So I think it's , if you have a specific need in your facility for a specific program , like , direct them to that .

Like , hey , we're doing this Parkinson's wellness program and there's a certification where you know we have a grant , we need teachers for this , and direct them to those places that they can get trained to maybe help fill those gaps for you at your facility .

So we'll link up to them in the show notes page just to make sure that everyone has access to that . So , erin , where can people go if they want to find out more about you , the that ? So , erin , where can people go if they want to find out more about you , the work you're doing , your podcast ? Where's a good place to direct them to ?

I'm fairly active on LinkedIn and then my website is ErinEleucom , so ErinEleucom , so that's where I post , where my articles , but any of those places are great places to find me .

So here there's so many stories that are out there to tell and I know that's a heavy lift , so kudos to you for that .

So , erin , before we bring this to a close , I want to end the podcast with the final question I always end the podcast on , which is about the wellness paradox , and I view this as the trust , interaction and communication gap that exists between fitness professionals and the medical community .

You've done some work bridging that gap , from what it sounds like From your perspective . If you can give the fit pros that are listening one piece of advice to bridge that gap , what would it be ?

So , if we're working with physical therapists , primary care providers , any ways that we're doing that and we're successful at it , find ways to share that with other fitness professionals and other healthcare providers .

So , like your podcast is a great platform for that , don't be shy about that , because we all need to learn from each other and how we can do this in a small , local , grassroots level for this to be able to grow . So I would say individual relationships , but then broadcast that .

Find ways to broadcast that , because we all need to learn from each other so that we can help do this on a grassroots level .

Thank you so much for having me Well I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did . If you found it insightful and informative , please share with your friends and colleagues . Those shares make a big difference for us .

Any information we'd like to share with you from today's episode can be found on the show notes page , that's by going to wellnessparadoxpodcom forward slash episode 126 . Please be on the lookout for our next episode when it drops in two weeks , and don't forget to subscribe through your favorite podcast platform . Until we chat again next , please be well .