Training Boom

People over 50 are filling gyms as intructors, and inspiring clients

By John Hanc | Special to Newsday

11:54 AM EST, January 11, 2008

An increasing number of older adults aren't just working out. They're working in -- as in the gyms, clubs and exercise studios that have exploded as part of the fitness boom of the past 20 years.

According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, the number of members 55 and older at fitness facilities nationwide has soared from 1.5 million in 1987 to 8.5 million in 2006 -- making it the fastest-growing segment of the health club population.

Along with this growth has come a rise in the number of senior fitness professionals. These are the personal trainers, class instructors and coaches who are helping guide their cohorts along the way to improved health and fitness.

The country's largest certifying body for personal trainers, the American Council on Exercise, does not keep data on the ages of those it certifies. However, there is a widespread perception in the industry that the median age is getting older. And when the council recently launched a program with AARP to help match older adults with trainers, the average age of the trainers who expressed interest in being part of the program was over 40.

The increase in the number of older fitness professionals makes sense to those in the industry. To some observers, it's no surprise that boomers are now entering an industry that, until recently, seemed the exclusive province of heavily muscled or tightly tummied twentysomethings.

"This generation isn't aging like their parents," says Robyn Stuhr, executive vice president of the American Council on Exercise. "They want to stay fit and stay active. They're also much more willing to make career changes. So it makes sense that if we have a group of boomers more interested in health than ever before, the logical [career] change might be into the field of fitness and wellness."

The presence of older adult instructors in the gym also makes good business sense. "In my opinion, mature trainers are essential because the market for personal fitness services is a mature market," says Paul Bruni, who, when he owned a gym in Garden City in the 1990s, hired a trainer in his 60s. "Everyone thought I was nuts," says Bruni, who now owns a gym in Purchase. "I prefer to think of it as being ahead of our time."

Bruni was looking for someone to work with his older clients. Larry Keating of Garden City, then 68, fit the bill. "He was uniquely qualified because of his age and his level of fitness. Here was a guy pushing 70 that could play competitive tennis with guys in their 40s. That told me he would be able to ... better reach ... mature clients in a way younger trainers couldn't."

Older gym members are more likely to be able to afford the cost of one-on-one or specialized instruction. As for the person giving those instructions, older gym members seem more comfortable when those counting their reps or leading the Spinning class are peers, or at least someone old enough to relate to achy joints.

"I've talked to a number of older clients who say that when they come into a gym and see some little 20-year-old gal or muscular 20-year-old guy, they think, 'This person knows nothing about what it's like to be in my body,'" Stuhr says. "That doesn't mean a young trainer can't do a great job with an older client, but if [the client] feels you can relate to who they are, the challenges they face, that's going to create a better experience."

Opportunities to help create that better experience, plus the satisfaction of working in a field they love have attracted many Long Islanders to an Act Two career in fitness.

Here's how some of the best wound up working in the working-out industry, along with some of their professional advice on how you can improve your physical fitness in the new year:

Fred Lipsky, 50 Owner, Five-0 Fitness, Remsenberg

At 45, Fred Lipsky was washed up. A Suffolk County police sergeant, he herniated three discs in his lower back when he slipped while trying to move some debris at the site of a traffic accident in Holtsville in 2003. Since even desk duty would aggravate his back, doctors told him that retirement might be the best option. Lipsky was devastated at leaving. "The profession I'd always wanted, where I thought I would stay for 10 years more," he said. "I felt like I wasn't the person I used to be."

He looked to his own father for inspiration. Herbert Lipsky had been a carpenter for 20 years, but when he hurt his neck, his physician told him that he risked permanent injury if he continued working. He went to night school for eight years, got his bachelor's degree and became a high school industrial arts teacher. Fred Lipsky decided to follow in his father's footsteps. "I thought, 'OK, what can I teach?'" he said. Criminal justice was out, since he didn't have the advanced degree needed to teach college. He was a veteran runner, having completed marathons all over the world, but "there aren't many jobs for coaches, and it's part-time."

Lipsky had been going to the gym most of this adult life and even more frequently during his efforts to rehab his back. "I started reading more about weight training," he said. "Then I took some classes, and wound up getting certified."

Starting a few months after his injury, Lipsky began a strength-training program. "I had to," he said. "It was either that, or just don't get out of bed."

This was a different kind of training than he had done before. Emphasis was put on the core muscles of the abdominals and trunk, to help support his injured back. He used movements that worked multiple muscle groups, and employed lower weights and higher reps. His chiropractor helped develop the workout for him, but as he began to take the certification courses, he modified his own workout.

"My injury is still there and will always be there," Lipsky said, talking about a general situation experienced by many older people. "It's just how I compensated around the injury."

At that point, Lipsky could have gone to work at a commercial gym, but he had a better idea. "I saw a niche in the market for the older person who wants private personal training and wants to learn the right way," he said. That was the spark of the idea that became Five-O Fitness, Lipsky's one-on-one studio designed to serve older adults (fiveofitness.com). At his 1,500-square-foot facility, which opened last month, clients work on cardio and weight-training machines under Lipsky's supervision. He charges $80 an hour for a 50-and-over training experience.