On Monday March 2nd, President Gee stopped by the SilverSneakers class to show his support for our seniors. President Gee believes that this program is important for WVU to offer because not only is WVU here to service their students, but it services an entire community. This program is in place to help motivate seniors to become active and take charge of their health, while providing them a sense of comradery and community they can find at the Student Recreation Center. President Gee lends a word of advice for any seniors looking to get active, but not knowing how to, “Just start!” Gee explains that starting is hard, but if you can commit yourself to classes like SilverSneakers, getting active becomes a lot easier and fun!
Our SilverSneakers program is an invaluable source to our senior citizens in Morgantown, but also to our students and employees here at WVU.
“We're really excited to have the Silver Sneakers program as part of our offerings," said Andrew Darling, Director of Campus Recreation at WVU. "I t not only benefits our campus community. Similar to our Personal Training program, the addition of SilverSneakers members provides a more enriching experience for our student employees. As they graduate and enter the profession, our instructors and trainers have had experiences working with folks from a variety of demographics.”
For those looking to enter into the healthcare or professional training industries, having the experience of working with a wide range of clients is a valuable and unique skill that will help set WVU students apart from others in their fields. By hosting this program at WVU, student employees are benefiting just as much as those seniors participating in the class! The SilverSneakers program helps to motivate our communities’ older adults to get active by being immersed around younger adults, but Darling also highlights that these seniors act as a positive influence on students as well,
“We also know that our student population benefits from seeing older members, whether it's employees or seniors, modeling lifelong commitments to exercise.”
At WVU, our SilverSneakers classes focus on increasing muscle strength and range of movement that will help improve your daily living. We provide seated and standing support, and our instructor can modify the class and exercises to the specific needs and fitness level of each participant. Alongside our designated SilverSneakers class, SilverSneakers member benefits include; full access to the entire Recreation Center, all of our group fitness classes, personal training options and more.
If you’re interested in registering for the SilverSneakers program, you can click
here to see if you qualify and you can find out more information on the SilverSneakers
website to see if this program is right for you. And if you are a WVU retiree
65 and older with PEIA insurance, you can complete registration right at the
Student Recreation Center. Our SilverSneakers classes run on Mondays and Wednesdays
from 10:15 – 11am in room B of the Student Recreation Center. Our full
class schedule includes other dates and times of group exercise classes available
to SilverSneaker members.