Curves Sidney is home to members of all ages, including Emily Bracket who turned 90 years old last week and celebrated at the gym.
“She’s amazing,” said Carolle Batham, owner and manager of Curves Sidney.
“She turned 90 two weeks ago Wednesday. She comes to the gym every day at 6 a.m. and has done so since 2008,” said Batham, adding that Bracket is the oldest member at Curves Sidney and has the highest number of workouts out of all the members — 1,895 (as of last week) since 2008.
Batham said Bracket is inspiring and shows that workouts at Curves can be tailored to suit any woman.
“Our oldest member is Emily and our youngest is seventeen. That’s the great thing about Curves is that people can work at their own abilities,” she said.
“It’s also a very supportive environment, a non-judgemental atmosphere and for some women, the all-female aspect is appealing. We have a real sense of community here.”
Curves has five basic components in their circuit-style workout which allows members to incorporate all of the critical components of an exercise program in 30 minutes, Batham explained.
“There’s the warm-up, then cardiovascular training, strength training, the cool down and stretching. And we always have a coach on the circuit to help and guide our members,” she said.
The circuit is based on resistance training which is safe on the joints and good for strengthening muscles and ligaments said Batham, adding that being fit and having good muscle and ligament strength is especially beneficial for older women.
“Apart from the fact that exercise increases blood flow to the brain which helps diseases like Alzheimer’s, having fit muscles and ligaments means faster recovery from things like illness or surgery,” she said.
Curves Sidney recently added the Body Basics program which targets specific areas of the body including core, arms and legs, as well as a new program called Curves Complete which includes a combination of diet, exercise and motivational support.
“We’re also offering Zumba classes as well,” Batham added.