Blog: 'Being fit as an older person is just great'

The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday through the year.

October's theme is older disabled people, with the first of the month being the United Nation's International Day of Older Persons.

This week, Michelle Rowlands from Derbyshire, discuss the impact of her new JUMPZ Learning Disability Fitness classes, especially on older participants with learning disability.

Michelle’s blog:

JUMPZ has been going for around 15 weeks, taking place in the sports hall at Derby College, once a week every Tuesday.

During the day, I am a social support worker for people with learning disabilities for the charity Mencap. In 2012, in my own time, I started entering bikini competitions and bodybuilding. I’d take photos and medals and so on into work, and the people there would show a great interest.

I’d talk to people about healthy eating and why I was following the better principles, how I was trying to improve my muscle tone and definition and so on.

People showed so much interest that after I competed in a powerlifting competition in Paris, I had the idea of setting up a fitness group for people with learning disabilities.

There isn’t a lot out there in terms of fitness for people with learning disabilities. I have accompanied people out and about who get bored very easily and very quickly, which can lead to poor behaviour, which attracts negative attention. This can put a person with learning difficulties off something like sport for life.

It was another reason I set up JUMPZ – it can be anything you want, running around or ball games or whatever.

It’s all about being inclusive, and since JUMPZ started I’ve seen a lot of progress among the people that attend regularly.

A gentleman in his 60s who I support enjoys playing rounders and other group games. He loves it, and would rather play as part of a group than exercise alone. He becomes a different person, joining in, laughing, clapping and calling everyone there his “mate”.

And there’s an older lady who attends, and we’ve found out that she’s very good at hula-hooping, which she really enjoys. It's something she hasn’t done for such a long time, but she’s now picking up again.

She’s also started playing basketball, improving hand-eye coordination and also learning about waiting for your turn. It takes time to get that far, but she has done it.

We divide the massive sports hall in Derby, so for older participants we have low-intensity challenges such as badminton, basketball and balancing exercises. Or it could even be trampolining.

I always encourage parents or carers to attend too, and of course we don’t charge them although we would like them to join in. It’s only £3 a session.

Being fit as an older person is just great. People with learning disabilities rely on their carers a great deal, but if they express a passion for sport and fitness then they should be enabled to participate.

It’s all about offering new experiences and different options to disabled people.

Exercise makes you generally a happier person, and something like JUMPZ is brilliant for your social life. When people arrive for a class it’s obvious that they can’t wait to get started.

My passions are bodybuilding and powerlifting. I have the freedom to participate in what I want – why shouldn’t everybody?

Find about more about JUMPZ Learning Disability Fitness here. English Learning Disability Sport Alliance (ELDSA) is a partnership between two NDSOs, Mencap Sport and Special Olympics GB, who work together to promote sport and physical activity opportunities for people with a learning disability.