Abstract
As the age of the U.S. population continues to increase, promoting healthy aging becomes an important public health concern. Projections for 2030 estimate that the number of individuals 65 years and over will reach 74 million in the United States alone and persons 85 year and older will be the fastest growing segment of the population (Zaleski et al., 2016). The US Healthy People 2030 objective for older adults aims to increase engagement in light, moderate, or vigorous leisure-time physical activities especially among those with reduced physical or cognitive function. Physical activity improves cardiovascular and respiratory health (Burzynska et al., 2014), increases muscle strength (Ramsey et al., 2020), improves functional mobility (Liu et al., 2014), improves cognitive functioning (Ludyga et al., 2020), and reduces risk of Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and some types of cancer (Meng et al., 2020; Müllers et al., 2019; Langhammer et al., 2018) in older adults. As a health promotion strategy, physical activity is the most promising nonpharmacological, noninvasive, and cost-effective approach for healthy aging (Lachman et al., 2018).
Despite the benefits of physical activity, it continues to be an underutilized modality for health. A recent report states that only 12.7% of adults 65 years and older meet the daily recommended amounts of exercise (Clarke et al., 2017). A study by Dedeyne et al. (2018) revealed that older adults participate in exercise programs because it helps them perform activities of daily living (ADL) (92%), helps foster healthy aging (91%), and increases one’s lifespan (81%). However, several barriers to older adult participation and adherence to an exercise program exist. One study identified the perception that daily activities are enough to be considered exercise and that a formal physical exercise program is no longer suited for them as one type of barrier. (Ahmad et al., 2014). In their study Ahmad et al., also found among adults with sarcopenia, the males’ lack of motivation to exercise affected participation while female participation was affected by family and friends’ support. Ahmad et al., (2014) found that one approach to engaging older adults to participate in regular physical activity is through guided exercise programs conducted in a group setting. Group exercise may promote exercise adherence by providing both external motivation and support (Ahmad et al., 2014).
Essentrics is a type of guided exercise program. It is similar to Tai-Chi and Yoga which share the same fundamental goal of mastering control over lifting and moving the body in space while performing low impact exercise and using the body weight as the resistance force for strengthening. Esmonde-White (2015), the creator of Essentrics, believes that the guiding principle behind Essentrics workouts is to rebalance the full musculoskeletal system through equally emphasizing strength and flexibility training. Essentrics quickly rose to popularity and was used by the Canadian National Sports Federation for high level/Olympic athletes and continued to be aired by the American PBS network as part of their fitness program offerings and fundraising strategy (Esmonde-White, 2015). In addition, the creator of Essentrics reports that “there are over 3000 certified Essentrics instructors teaching the program worldwide which easily translates to thousands of practitioners since its inception”. Despite its growing popularity as a guided exercise program, little is known about the benefits of Essentrics. To the authors’ knowledge, there is no quantitative or qualitative research on Essentrics in the research literature.
The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the experiences of adults who participated in an Essentrics program. The guiding research question was the following: What are the perceived benefits of participating in Essentrics?