Moving in the right circles: Sandy Sneakers provides fitness, friendship

The Sandy Sneakers exercise group works out together in Carolina Beach as a way to stay healthy and socialize. (Photo by Michael Cline Spencer)

Stroll along Carolina Beach Lake in the morning, and you’re apt to happen upon a lively group of older adults having a rollickin’ good time – and they are having all that fun exercising.

The group is the Sandy Sneakers, and they have held free exercise classes for seniors for three years. However, Sandy Sneakers is much more than a fitness group. It’s a community that welcomes and embraces each newcomer as one of their own. 

“Sandy Sneakers keeps us moving and healthy,” said Jana Delengowski, a Sandy Sneakers member of two years. “At the same time, we make good friends. It’s something I really enjoy.”

Sandy Sneakers got its start during COVID. When the SilverSneakers classes at Assertive Athletics & Fitness fell victim to the pandemic, two members of the class, MJ Shalanski and Shannon Rowe, decided to keep the program going. 

They contacted the SilverSneakers class members, made a database of the program’s exercises, changed the name to reflect the group’s new status and started holding classes outside twice a week.

The program is so successful it now holds four classes a week instead of two. Also, though the participants enjoy exercising outdoors, they now have an indoor option, the community center at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, when the weather is too hot or rainy.

Sandy Sneakers classes are still based on those developed by SilverSneakers, a national exercise program designed specifically for older adults. Consequently, each workout includes all the elements the 50+ group needs to maintain fitness. The members do lots of lunges and squats for lower body strength, use exercise bands to improve upper body strength and perform exercises to improve balance. The classes also include a cardio segment, which is something of a free-for-all. The exercisers do whatever strikes their fancy, whether that be jogging around the lake, marching in place or shaking their booties to the rockin’ tunes playing in the background.

The leaders occasionally add new exercises they think will benefit their members. For example, they recently incorporated tai chi into the classes.

The women, and some men, work out at their own pace. Newbies can go slowly, while the more advanced can challenge themselves. Those who are injured can modify the exercises.

“Our group is varied in ability, age and physicality,” said Sue Flocco, who joined the group a year ago. “The leaders are good at giving modifications. They’ll tell you, ‘This will make it easier. This will make it harder.’” 

Wherever Sandy Sneakers members are in their fitness journey, they find that they are accepted and supported.

“People are so kind,” Rowe said. “There’s no place for any malicious anything. We just try to lift each other up and encourage each other. It’s a very positive experience.”

The Sandy Sneakers exercise program may be informal, but it’s quite effective. Members report substantial gains in their fitness levels. Flocco said she can now easily heft a 20- or 40-bottle case of water into and out of the car; Delengowski thinks nothing of hopping on her bike for a long, strenuous ride; and Cathy McCormick, a two-year member, said stairs are no longer a challenge. 

 Many members also find the program gives them more stamina, so much so that they can stay ahead of the little ones gracing their lives.

“It gives me the energy to run around with my grandson,” said Jane Price, a one-year Sandy Sneakers member. “I was chasing him in his little car. I took him to the museum. I can just keep up with him better.”

Sandy Sneakers has even helped stave off surgeries. Rowe said a number of the members learned they don’t need knee replacement surgery yet. Others, who have had surgery, say the program helps keep the problem area strong.

Getting a good workout is one thing. Finding friends while you do so is another, and it would be hard to find a friendlier group than Sandy Sneakers. Unsuspecting strangers, whether they are walking in the park or enjoying a drink at the American Legion, as well as friends, are recruited. Snowbirds who drop in for the winter are welcomed like long-lost relatives.

The newcomers are introduced and invited to join the group’s monthly luncheons and impromptu breakfast meetings. As a result, they soon find people to do things with who share their interests. Outings include going shelling and to the movies, playing trivia, attending local festivals, going out for drinks and more. 

“I went, and I just fell in love with how welcoming and lovely these people are,” Price said. “They introduce themselves and make you feel like part of a family from the start.”

Sandy Sneakers friends are there for each other when life goes awry as well as for the good times. Delengowski said that when she had surgery, her fellow exercisers brought her dinner and spent time with her, conversing and playing games, until she could get back to classes. 

“If you joined a gym, you aren’t part of a community,” she said. “They don’t say, ‘We miss you,’ and check to see if you are okay.” 

It needn’t be a debilitating physical injury to mobilize the Sandy Sneakers either. Rowe says the group works as a safety net if someone is having a tough time emotionally too.

“If you are having a rough day or it’s the anniversary of the death of a loved one, all a Sandy Sneakers member has to do is call one of us, and we do something.”

Not surprisingly, Sandy Sneakers is growing. It has doubled its membership, and one member started a second group in Calabash.

However, no matter how the group evolves, it will continue to fulfill its unique mission: to provide all the benefits of exercise and help older adults enjoy vibrant, connected lives.

“We want to keep people involved,” Rowe said, “and get as many people who need this to join us.”