Gains for Grandparents 

Think all your grandma does is sit at home and knit with her friends over tea and biscuits? Think again: run by Debra, “Debs”, Kristiansen and hosted at APEX Gym in Harelaw, “Legends” is an over-60s fitness class that focuses on improving the health, fitness and general well being of older people. 

It started just before lockdown, in 2019, when Debs was inspired by her parents to start Legends. Deb's parents, who had never done much fitness and suffered from bad posture so were looking for a way to manage the pain, turned to her as she was experienced in running fitness classes. Despite being forced from the setting of the gym to the digital world, Legends continued to thrive online, with its members continuing to do their exercises online until the gym could be safely reopened. 

Legends is about fitness. “We're not looking to make athletes,” Debs said, “we’re looking at improving mobility and strength, not setting personal bests, and making the work outs manageable”. 

“There's definitely a need for more stuff like this, people are starting to need to be active for longer with parents working for longer so we need to educate people on doing more exercise to help them stay mobile for longer”

When asked what obstacles Legends has faced in its years of activity, Debs responded “There's been no serious negativity but they do complain at me a lot! The only difficulty is that the classes are small, they could be a lot bigger”. As the class was mostly spread by word of mouth, Legends has remained at only eight regular members however it continues to expand and grow, broadening the horizons for those wanting to join. Recently, Legends has begun to become increasingly popular with all kinds of people, not just the over-60s it's geared towards. “Legends isn't just for over-60s, we have people who come in because they’ve just had a baby or because they haven't done fitness in a while and so want to find a way to get back into it”. While they may have not increased in numbers, the services they provide have certainly expanded and the members of Legends continue to work hard to keep their health, fitness and independence.