IN Rose Landry's fitness classes for seniors, less is always more.
The North Shore fitness instructor guides participants through planned sets of exercises tailored to individual abilities. With each exercise, the full range of movement is executed slowly and mindfully. The engagement of mind and muscle produced by this method increases flexibility, improves balance and builds strength.
"Each movement builds on the next. The process appears slow because in each movement, we're giving our muscles the time they need to contract and the time they need to relax," Rose explains. "The progress is gentle, gradual and effective."
Rose's method, the vita technique, includes elements developed from personal rehabilitation during her own recovery from physical injury and the rehabilitation programs she teaches. The goal is to restore the ability to handle the physical challenges that come with day-to-day living and, possibly most important, the belief in our ability to do so.
"The ability to perform these movements restores confidence in our ability to carry out practical, daily activities in safety. These can be as simple as bending or lifting to move an object from one surface to another or negotiating our way across a stretch of broken pavement," she says.
Not all the participants in Rose's classes know they are integrating carefully choreographed movements into their individual body memory. They may not be interested in the processes that forge and strengthen neuromuscular links.
However, they are aware of the results. Increased strength, energy and self-confidence as well as feeling more engaged in life are a few of the benefits her charges say they've noticed.
Rose was six years old when her family moved to Canada, first to Toronto, Ont., and then to Vancouver. It was the culmination of a journey that began with her grandparents who were part of the Mennonite diaspora from Ukraine. Her father was born in China, her mother in Paraguay. Rose and her brother and sister were born in Curitiba, Brazil.
After graduating from John Oliver high school, Rose worked as a hair stylist at Derek London salon, with a break to marry and move to North Vancouver in 1984 where she raised two sons and was a foster mother to 20 children over five years. Rose left the salon with the parting words, "Call me if you ever open a shop for kids."
When London opened Heads, a high-end hair salon for children in Vancouver, Rose went back to work for a time.
Rose's Mennonite heritage, with its emphasis on being active and productive, contributed to her interest in health and well being.
She was a swimmer and an ardent cyclist right up until a car accident put her into a recovery process that included two years of physiotherapy.
As part of her rehabilitation, Rose took a class in circuit, or weight, training to build strength. The course content and the instruction process interested her, so much so that she trained as a fitness instructor through the British Columbia Parks and Recreation Association. Over the years, Rose has continued to explore the body's intricate internal relationships through courses in human anatomy.
Rose certified in weight training and third age fitness around the time that active rehabilitation was gaining credibility in health care.
Today, the resumption of daily activity as quickly as possible after illness or injury is universally accepted. Rose and her colleagues apply this approach in osteofit classes and as instructors with Lions Gate Hospital's cardiac rehabilitation program.
For Rose, building social connections is as important as building muscle. Friendly relationships encourage wellness, a state of being equally as beneficial as exercise. For some, these classes and the post-class get together are their primary social contact.
Rose arranges her work schedule so she can join participants for coffee after every session. Following a recent fitness class, Mari Mordell spoke for the group and said, "Rose knows about the abilities of each individual person. She's really great that way. I don't know how she keeps it all in her head."
There's probably a neurobiological explanation for this special skill.
For the men and women who participate in Rose's classes, it's another expression of her empathy and expertise.
Schedules for Rose Landry's fitness classes are available by contacting her by email at vitatechnique@ hotmail.com.
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. Contact her at 778-2792275 or email her at lander1@ shaw.ca.
