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Nevada Today

Nevada Today is a nonpartisan, independently owned and operated site dedicated to providing up-to-date news and smart analysis on the issues that impact Nevada's communities and businesses.

Opinions

Get Fit With Silver Sneakers

Mesquite, (NV). March 28, 2018. A couple of years ago, if you had asked me about “Silver Sneakers” I would have thought that it was just another stupendous but fictitious invention by Marvel Comics coming soon to a theater near you.

A friend corrected me on this and told me it was a fantastic and free fitness program funded by some insurance companies and Medicare. It seems that the insurance industry discovered that older folks who engaged in physical activities or “working out” with, treadmills, stationary bicycles and light weights just lived longer and were happier than folks who did not, thereby saving the greedy buggers in the insurance industry a few bucks on insurance claims. I guess sometimes you really can say like Gordon Gekko, in the 1987 movie “Wall Street” – “Greed is good!”.

That sounded good to me. I came from a background of long-distance bicycling, racquetball, Basketball, downhill skiing, sailboat racing, running and other activities that I had to give up as age and Arthritis slowly took control of my body. About a year ago, Bicycling was the last activity to go as I began to experience some small balance problems. That is a frightening problem on a bicycle and it distressed me.

I went online and typed in www.silversneakers.com and found answers to every question I had about this amazing program. Questions regarding the communities where the program could be found, registration for it, the address of the facility and the amenities offered in each one were just some of the questions that were quickly answered. I also found that the program is offered in 13,000 locations around the country.

Wife, Ginny, and I visited our daughter and her family in Dundee, IL for Thanksgiving and I found a beautiful facility enrolled in the program – LA Fitness – just a couple of miles from our daughter’s house. I went there every day, lifted machine weights and rode one of the many stationary bikes, – even Thanksgiving morning! (They also gave me a free smoothie for signing up for the program with them – “Life is Good” – right?)

We are lucky here in Mesquite as we have a participating fitness center located at 550 West Pioneer Blvd – “Anytime Fitness”, Located next to La Fonda Mexican restaurant. And now, I just heard, the Mesquite Fitness Center is participating in the program. Go to one of the Silver Sneakers sites mentioned above and get all the details necessary to participate.

Many communities have chosen to affiliate their recreation facilities with Silver Sneakers and that is the case here in Mesquite. That is a nice bonus for visitors who are members of the program and snowbirds as well. And why wouldn’t we want to participate in a program that would help bring more dollars into the city. The participating facility receives payment from Silver Sneakers according to the number of cards that are processed through an installed device.

Many insurance companies are Silver Sneakers participants. Here are just a few: Kaiser Permanente, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Aetna, Humana, AARP Supplemental, Caremore, Healthways and Anthem.
Some facilities even have swimming pools, hot tubs and saunas included in their program. That was true of the LA Fitness gym I utilized in Illinois and also at the facility I use during our summer in Colorado.

So, get fit, live longer, feel better and save money. Go to www.silversneakers.com to get started and get all your questions answered.

Me? I’m hoping that better fitness will get me back on my bicycle.

Copyright Charles Loomis 2018

Editors note:

Nevada-today.com does not accept advertising.  The reference to Silver Slivers and Anytime Fitness is the opinion of the author. [amazon_link asins=’1461115450,B004S81N2E,B00X3PF0T0′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’nevadatoday-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’fb4dcf88-2ebc-11e8-a505-511691722d4d’][amazon_link asins=’B00X3PF0T0′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’nevadatoday-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3b5f7c1d-2ebd-11e8-b5d5-d303eed875dd’]

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