Male retirees embrace fitness to stay healthy and active

Tom Jackson of New Kensington was going through his morning routine this month, lifting weights on several different machines in the basement at the Valley Points Family YMCA of New Kensington.

“Working on the weights keeps you active. At my age, there are not a lot of us who (are physically active),” said the 72-year-old Jackson, who frequents the facility along Constitution Boulevard.

If there ever was a male senior citizen who would have reason to take it easy and forego exercise, it would be Jackson, who is hobbled by arthritis in his hips so severe that he takes baby steps as he moves from exercise machine to exercise machine.

Making sure he can continue to walk is what he says is his motivation to get out of the house and follow his exercise regimen after years of keeping in shape with martial arts, landscaping and working in a factory.

“You have to push yourself or it doesn’t work. If you can’t feel it the next day, then you did nothing,” said Jackson, who sometimes exercises for a few hours at the YMCA.

Jackson is among a generation of retired men who see age 65 in the rearview mirror but have remained as active as possible after leaving their full-time working days behind.

Only an estimated 16.9% of men 65 and older meet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2018 physical activity guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities in their leisure time, according to data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey. The men do slightly better than women, with 11.5% of women 65 and older meeting the guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise during leisure time, according to the survey results.

“There seems to be a return to people wanting to be fit and feel well,” said Kelli McIntyre, CEO of the Valley Points Family YMCA Association with branches in New Kensington, Allegheny Township and Harrison. The three YMCAs have about 1,150 men 65 and older, out of 8,300 members, McIntyre said.

Adults over 65 who do not have limiting medical conditions should get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity a week for substantial health benefits, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those with less time should engage in about 75 minutes of intense aerobic physical exercise a week, or some equal combination of moderate and vigorous exercise. They also should do at least two days of activities that strengthen muscles, according to the CDC.

In North Huntingdon, retirees Jim Corl and Clint Page are avid fitness enthusiasts, lifting weights and pedaling on the ellipticals at Planet Fitness along Route 30.

“I just want to keep in shape and keep my health going,” said Corl, 78, a retired Hempfield Area School District English teacher who works out five days a week. Corl likes to walk for 90 minutes on Sundays, after giving up on running “because “too many guys were getting knee surgery.”

Page, 76, a retired Norwin School District counselor, said he used to run and play racquetball until the pounding on his knees and friendly advice from his wife made him give it up. Page works out seven days a week at Planet Fitness.

“Any senior citizen can do something,” Corl said.

Both men said their fathers were not role models when it came to being physically active in their leisure time. Corl recalled how his late father-in-law, a steelworker, did not need any after-work exercise program.

“He got his workout crawling inside steel coils,” at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Corl said.

At the Regional Family YMCA of Laurel Highlands, Executive Director Steve Simon said he has seen a growing number of men 65 and older playing pickleball, working out in the fitness center and taking exercise classes at the Mt. Pleasant Township facility.

“It definitely has increased over the years,” said Simon, referring to more senior citizens using the facility in the 26 years he has been there.

Simon attributes that increase in usage by older men, in part, to the region’s demographics. The U.S. Census Bureau data shows that 24% of the population of Westmoreland and Fayette counties is 65 and older. About 17% of the Regional Family YMCA’s 1,500 members and those on health insurance benefit programs are men 62 and older, Simon said.

At the Greensburg YMCA, about 11% of its 2,100 members are men above 65, according to membership director Debbie King.

Among them is Rich Serrao, 75, of Jeannette. He likes an early-morning exercise routine, whether it is lifting weights or water exercises in the pool.

For Serrao, remaining physically fit and exercising is ingrained in him.

“I’ve been doing it since I was 13,” said Serrao, who played sports while a student at Norwin.

He follows his exercise regimen six days a week and sometimes seven.

“It’s like an addiction to me,” Serrao said. “If I miss a day, I feel guilty.”

After four decades of running that put a pounding on his knees, Milt Gess, 79, of Hempfield keeps fit by working out on exercise machines at the YMCA in Greensburg, typically two days a week. In his working days as a salesman, Gess said, he didn’t have the time to devote to an exercise regimen.

Gess said he is motivated, in part, by the fate that befell his late father — a strong man who worked at General Tire Co. in Jeannette until he could no longer work because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the rare and fatal nerve system disease that causes a loss of muscle function.

He compares the feeling he gets from exercising to being hit on the head with a bat.

“You only feel better when you stop,” Gess said.

Health benefits

Studies have shown numerous health benefits for remaining physically fit, said Dr. Andrew Schleihauf, a physician in Independence Health System’s sports medicine program in Westmoreland County.

“There are both immediate and long-term benefits of exercise,” Schleihauf said.

Benefits include improved sleep quality, decreased feelings of anxiety and decreased blood pressure, said Schleihauf, who has been working in the sports medicine program since 2017.

Reducing the risk of dementia, decreased risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes are among the long-term benefits, he said.

Multiple cancers are linked to obesity, including bladder cancer and colon cancer. Those who exercise regularly can increase their body’s maximum oxygen volume.

“It increases the lifespan, compared to those nonexercisers,” Schleihauf said.

Staying fit with exercise can help strengthen bones to help prevent osteoporosis, a condition usually associated with women, said Craig Castor, supervisor of Allegheny Health Network’s sports medicine program based near Bethel Park.

Exercise can prevent bone loss in adults and can make bones denser and replace old bone with new bone, while helping to prevent falls and fractures, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases website.

And to remain in shape, walking is a good form of exercise. But Castor, who is also an athletic trainer, said people should mix up their routine. They need to walk uphill and vary their strides, he added.

“You don’t have to run 50 miles,” to keep in shape, he said.

Exercise and maintaining an active lifestyle have benefits beyond the physical aspect, Castor said.

“It helps mental health. It helps to release endorphins and you feel better about yourself,” Castor said.

“It’s a good stress reliever,” Schleihauf said.

For those seniors just starting an exercise routine or resuming exercise after many years, even if it’s just for five or 10 minutes, Schleihauf recommends getting a physical to determine one’s health condition. There could be a heart or lung condition or a chronic disease that could limit what a person could do.

“We tell people you need to do things gradually,” starting slow and not overdoing the exercise, Schleihauf said. “If you’re doing too much, too soon or too fast, then you can run into problems.”