May 2007

Jack LaLanne endorses chiropractic Stay Fit Seniors program by Dr. Anthony Lauro

My friend and business partner, Roger Russo, DC, and I founded a company last year we named Stay Fit Seniors in order to address a glaring need in society: senior fitness.

Our program encourages seniors to stay active and exercise in order to get the most out of their retirement years, and we give them the means to do so.

The National Institute of Aging has labeled lack of physical activity "Public Enemy Number One." We knew that chiropractic care would help seniors get ready for physical activity and create the conditions for safe, regular exercise. How we managed to get Jack La Lanne on board comes a little later in the story.

Roger started to plant the seed for what became Stay Fit Seniors back in 2005 when thinking about the future of his practice and how he could best serve his senior patients. The idea started to take shape, and when we got together last year we crystallized the opportunity: seniors have the time to exercise, their schedules are flexible enough to visit the office during our least busy times and the insurance system through Medicare and Major Medical supports the concept because it's a proven fact that chiropractic care and exercise reduce strain on the health care system.

The benefits of exercise have been researched and documented ‑‑ improved immune system functionality and survival rate from myocardial infarction, reduced risk of heart disease, improved resistance to upper‑respiratory tract infections, reduced risk of developing high blood pressure, more resilient ligaments and tendons, improved coronary heart circulation, increased levels of HDL cholesterol and reduces LDL cholesterol, improved short‑term memory ‑‑ the list goes on and on.

And, chiropractic care has been shown to counteract the effects of aging. Chiropractic geriatric patients are less likely to have been hospitalized, less likely to have used a nursing home, and more likely to report themselves in better health.

Armed with this data, Roger and I fine‑tuned a regimen that combines chiropractic care with a regular 30‑minute exercise routine on circuit training equipment in a controlled, monitored environment where every element of the program, from the choice of exercise machines to the music and the instruction has been tailored to a senior audience. In fact, we don't even allow anybody under 60 to use the exercise area!

No charge for equipment use

We also made the decision not to charge for access to the exercise equipment. As Roger likes to say, "I was put on this earth to adjust spines and not become a gym owner." Access to the exercise equipment would be free as long as the patient was under regular care by the chiropractor with the Stay Fit Senior practice.

We revamped our practices to include Stay Fit Seniors exercise rooms. Typically you need about 250‑300 square feet for seven circuit training pieces of equipment, seven walk‑in‑place stations, video monitors running footage on health education and to help lead patients through the exercise routines, and a sound system with oldies music to cue the patients to move from station to station every 60 seconds through the exercise regimen.

We stopped all of our other marketing activities: the lectures, mall screenings, dinners, direct mail, etc., in order to focus our energies on the senior market.

Stay Fit Seniors began to pay off immediately for both of our practices. We were seeing more patients than ever before (new patients increased 60% since the beginning of the program), and our senior patients were enthusiastic and keeping up their exercise and chiropractic care routines. We knew we had found a niche that chiropractors were uniquely capable of filling and we were making a valuable contribution to the quality of life of our senior patients.

Then we decided to take it to the next level. If Stay Fit Seniors was working for us, why not license it to other chiropractors who could benefit from the business model? We developed a complete package including specifications on the exercise regimen and the equipment, and we created a marketing program that includes television and print advertising, direct mail, call centers and publicity.

We also did our research. According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, there are approximately 45,797,200 senior Americans (ages 60+), representing over 16% of the total US population.

Within the next 15 years, approximately 40 million people from the Baby Boomer generation will join the senior ranks. And so much has been written about how affluent Baby Boomers want to maintain healthy, active lifestyles and enjoy retirement with travel, sports and other activities that it made us even more confident in the Stay Fit Seniors concept.

LaLanne jumps on board

Once we got the Stay Fit Seniors licensing package completed, we upped the ante again. If there's one person in America who stands for exercise, it's Jack La Lanne. We found out that Jack was still working out two hours a day at 92 years old. We also knew that he had studied chiropractic in college and uses chiropractic as part of his regular health routine. So we asked for an endorsement, and Jack has been overwhelmingly supportive.

With Jack on board now, we're really getting the message out that seniors can have a healthy, active lifestyle through exercise and chiropractic care. As Jack loves to say, "I don't care if you're 60, 70 or 80 years old, you can still improve your life through exercise and chiropractic."

The Stay Fit Seniors program is quickly getting the attention of the leaders in our community also. Eric Plasker, DC, of the Family Practice says, "Stay Fit Seniors has brought together two key elements necessary for living an active, healthy 100 year life style: exercise and chiropractic."

Terry A. Rondberg, DC, president of the World Chiropractic Alliance and publisher of The Chiropractic Journal says, "I think this program is brilliant and one of the best ways we can position our profession as a wellness solution."

Stay Fit Seniors is available for licensing by any chiropractic professional in the United States. Chiropractors interested in learning more about Stay Fit Seniors can visit www.stayfitseniorsforlife.com or call 1‑800‑385‑1141.