Grandma’s Personal Trainer helps older Australians stay fit at home

Key points:

• Grandma’s Personal Trainer was released this month, February, to help older Australians stay fit, even when they are sitting down
• Only one in three Australians aged 65 and over is completing the recommended 30 minutes of daily activity
• Exercise doesn’t have to be difficult and can include activities such as moving your arms after using the computer

Christine Thompson-Wells is an educator and author of many books, including the newly released Grandma’s Personal Trainer, which contains simple illustrated instructions for exercises that can be done at home. While the title suggests the suitability of the exercises for older female Australians, Christine emphasised that this book is for all older Australians who want to increase their physical activity.

“The outcome [of this book] is to allow [older] men and women to be able to do gentle exercises that are good for their heart rate. It’s good for keeping your brain alert and all the little muscles within the body — to keep those moving,” said Christine.

Only a third of Australians over the age of 65 met the recommended physical activity guidelines, as highlighted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2022. 

This means that two-thirds of older Australians completed less than the recommended 30 minutes of daily physical activity which can include walking.

Other forms of physical exercise can be too strenuous or daunting to complete. Listening to the loud music and using the different equipment “[…] can be quite intimidating to an older person”, said Christine.

Through her new book, Christine makes it clear that exercise doesn’t have to be stressful or difficult and the exercises in her book can be done in the comfort of your own home. 

“Even if you’re sitting in a chair, you can actually do leg exercises, like bringing them backward and I could do things like shaking my wrists so that my hands stay nice and reliable [when using the computer],” said Christine.

Additionally, you can purchase the related Grandma’s Personal Trainer diary to monitor your progress and thoughts about the main exercise book. 

“Through instruction [and] personal determination, many ailments associated with age can be managed through frequent exercises,” said Christine.

Other books for adults by Christine include: How to Reduce Stress, Know Your Destination and Devils in Our Food. While she has also written many books about puberty for children and teenagers, she is currently working on a book about hormones for younger children.

Grandma’s Personal Trainer and Christine’s other books are available to buy online in paperback format. While there is not yet an audiobook available for this cover, the illustrations inside are easy to understand which will help to make exercising at home easy for you.

Here is an excerpt of a foot exercise from Grandma’s Personal Trainer that you can do sitting on a chair: ‘Sitting back on the chair and while your ankles and feet are limbered up, bring your toes up in the direction of the knee. Then back to the original position, then back up into the direction of your knee. Do this five to ten times and then go to your other foot and repeat the exercise.

It doesn’t seem like Christine will be stopping writing anytime soon as she enjoys creating informative resources to educate people on important topics.

 “[…] I just can’t give up on people,” said Christine. 

What are you most looking forward to learning about in Grandma’s Personal Trainer book?

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