Fitness program helps Glen Ellyn seniors get moving, stay healthy

At Atria Senior Living in Glen Ellyn, Ray Martin is an 80-something senior who doesn't believe in spending his retirement just sitting still.

He walks around the Atria building several times a day and does standing pushups on a nearby fence despite having trouble with his legs.

"They'll never get better, but at least I can keep them from getting worse," he said.

Martin is one of a group of residents at Atria who participated recently in the International Council on Active Aging's "Changing the Way We Age" campaign.

About 24 residents completed the program of exercising for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for six weeks.

For getting so active, they were awarded T-shirts saying, "Atria Moves."

"The residents are very proud to have those," Atria Engage Life Director Mary Shafer said.

"In many cases, society's perceptions of aging focus on decline and diminished value," she said. "These negative views can create low expectations of aging that extend into all areas of life, from the workplace to health care to leisure activities."

The active aging council program the seniors completed, she said, is part of the organization's efforts of "overturning ageist stereotypes and demonstrating the value at every level of promoting active aging."