Orange County Register

Nifty After Fifty of Garden Grove and Monarch Healthcare of Irvine will open as many as five Nifty After Fifty gyms in Orange County to boost the physical and mental health of older adults.

Sheldon Zinberg with fitness client

(Photos courtesy of Nifty After Fifty. Click on image for larger view.)

Nifty After Fifty has 10 wellness centers in California and had individuals interested in opening 50 more as franchises, but couldn’t get financing when the credit crunch hit in the fall of 2008, says founder Sheldon Zinberg.

Zinberg is a retired doctor who founded CareMore, a large Medicare program in Southern California.

So he approached large medical groups about 50-50 partnerships to open Nifty After Fifty centers. Monarch Healthcare, which as more than 2,000 private doctors in its network, was the first to step up.

The partnership has already opened centers in Orange and Laguna Woods.

Pictured below is the Nifty After Fifty “brain aerobics” program and “Reviving Your Driving simulation program. Click on images for larger view.

“”We’re very excited about this relationship,” says Dr. Bart Asner of Monarch Healthcare. “I was aware of the excellent work Dr. Zinberg had done with seniors. We care for 28,000 seniors across Orange County and we’re always focused on their health and well-being.”

Nifty After Fifty is more than a physical fitness gym, Zinberg says. Each person gets a complete medical exam and customized, computer monitored fitness program using equipment designed for older people.

“Instead of treadmills, we use seated equipment for low impact aerobic workouts,” he said. “We do mobility training, cane aerobics for people who use canes and even teach self defense using a cane.”

Zinberg’s studies found that if older adults exercise properly and regularly they had 89% fewer falls and 80% fewer bone fractures vs. studies of the general elder population by the Centers for Disease Control.

“If you can save one hospital day per year for every Medicare patient, you will save $80 billion,” he says. “That’s for the 40 million currently on Medicare. As Baby Boomers age, there will be 80 million on Medicare.

“If we can significantly improve the quality of their lives it is of no small importance in reducing health care costs,” he adds. “And we can employ several thousand people. Both benefit everyone.

Zinberg is talking about Nifty After Fifty partnerships with other medical groups and hopes to have 25 to 30 facilities open in eight states by 2010.

Each center can accommodate 700 clients, who make exercise appointments so that they get individual attention. Price is $39.95 to $59.95 a month, Zinberg says.

For more information go to the Nifty After Fifty web site or call 800-928-0867.

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