If social media is any standard to go by, then chair yoga or chair fitness is sweeping North America. The low impact workout requires little more than a fixed chair and some know-how. Residents of Humboldt and area can pick up that know-how in a six-week series of sessions being hosted by the Reed Thompson library. The next round of sessions begins on Thursday, January 18. 

Chair fitness and yoga instructor Jenn Bird brings the tutorials designed to help with mobility and ultimately with tone and overall fitness. 

“It’s basically what it sounds like – you're doing low impact exercises using a chair,” explains Jenn. “So that could be helping to build your strength, improving your flexibility without putting too much strain on your body.” 

Bird says the activities are perfect for those with reduced mobility and the exercises can be tailored to meet those with varying needs and constraints.  Warmups to the exercises prepare the muscles for activity, so head and shoulder rolls, gentle movements of the arms and some gentle stomping of the feet serve as great energizers.  

‘You can make the activities a little more difficult if you want. You can always add a little bit of weight. If you don’t have weights, you can go to your kitchen and grab a couple of cans of soup just to make things a little bit more challenging.” 

It’s a great activity for seniors given that there’s no element of competition; people simply come and perform to whatever capacity they’re capable of. Then they can easily take what they’ve learned in a session and proceed with the exercises there at their own pace.  

“It’s recommended to do the exercise two to three times a week. You can do it more than that, but initially you can do it two or three times a week.” 

This is the second set of sessions offered by the library. Jenn says the first set, held before Christmas, was very popular with plenty of positive feedback. 

“It went very well. People liked it, and I was pleased when they asked me to do it again.” 

The sessions last 45 minutes per session and all are welcome to attend. For more details, contact the Reid Thompson Library during opening hours at (306) 682-2034.