If Jo Ann Buchas could lead a fitness class every day of the week, she says she wouldn’t hesitate.

“This is truly the best part of the day,” Buchas said. “Teaching is an absolute joy.”

Buchas has been a part-time fitness instructor at the YMCA since the early 1990s. Not quite a decade ago, she started leading classes for senior citizens after she retired from her full-time career.

“That’s the thrill of it, seeing everybody having a good time, working out and progressing, making a change in their life,” she said.

Christianne Robert typically attends back-to-back classes with Buchas two days a week.

“I have been coming for about seven years and it gets me out of the house and keeps me moving, which is tough when you are retired and you really aren’t doing too much,” Robert said.

“It feels awesome,” said Claudia Hammar. “I just feel like I am energized.”

Hammar signed up right after she retired and has been a regular ever since.

“This is my third year, and I have never stuck with anything the way I have stuck with this,” she said.

Quickly advancing through a circuit of exercises, Buchas’ program focuses on a blend of cardio, functional movement, strength and balance training – all of which she says become increasingly more important as we age.

“Motion is lotion, so the more you move, the better you are going to be,” Buchas said.

“I think it helps keep my muscles moving and my bones moving and I don’t have to go to the doctor very often,” Robert said. “I think the endorphins that we kick out every time we come to class certainly help us feel better.”

Hammar said the benefits go beyond the physical.

“I think when you retire, you lose that workplace community that you have, and I think coming to this class really helped me structure my day; they gave me both socialization and structure,” she said. “It really helped me adjust from a very intense work situation to retiring when there isn’t much on the agenda for you to do.”

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic when gyms were closed, the Y offered fitness classes online, but there was no way to replicate the social aspect.

“That was very difficult; it was very hard,” Robert said. “It was hard enough to be home most of the time anyway, but not knowing that we could come here and socialize with anyone, that was very hard but we got through it.”

Now that they’re back in person, the attendees end each class a bit winded but grateful for the chance to get their blood flowing.

“I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t have this class to come to,” Hammar said.

“We are very festive,” Robert said. “We sing, we dance, we laugh, we joke. It is not very quiet when we get going, but we enjoy it.”

As she looks forward to her fourth decade as a fitness instructor, Buchas said the community at the gym is what keeps her going strong.

“It’s OK because we are here, we are having fun, we’re working out and we are getting strong together and we are in community, and that is really what it’s about,” she said.