COVER STORY

Richard Evans, executive director of Synergy Health & Fitness Center. Don Clark photo

Mind and body programming, such as tai chi and yoga, is increasingly popular at Synergy Health & Fitness Center in Exeter. Another of the changes as the Exeter facility celebrates its 10th year: an older clientele.

The average age was 46 a decade ago. Now more than half of the more than 4,000 members are older than 50, said Richard Evans, executive director of Synergy since the inception.

Evans has overseen an expanding array of services, including more one-on-one training and non-traditional exercises that do not rely on weights or dumbbells.

"What really hasn't changed is the type of people who are coming here," said Evans. "The aging baby boomer."

To that end, the major health and fitness center adjacent to Exeter Hospital also offers massage and facial and skin services.

That is the lay of the land across the Seacoast, as changes in personal physical fitness and health care are driven by consumers. The trend here, like the region as a whole, is the growing retiree demographic, said Mary Cook, public health coordinator for the city of Portsmouth.

"We tend to have the retirees in our region," said Cook, citing the findings of a community health profile released this summer.

While the focus on preventive medicine essentially promotes fitness and the push for healthier lifestyles, Cook said the community health profile encourages health agencies, centers and nursing homes to take another look at ways to prevent and treat for some of the leading illnesses and causes of death in the greater Seacoast.

The leading causes of death are heart disease, invasive cancer and cerebrovascular disease, according to the Greater Portsmouth Public Health Network.

The study indicates residents 65 to 74 die from heart disease at lower rates than the state. Yet, residents of greater Portsmouth, for all ages combined, die from Alzheimer's disease at higher rates than the state. The study also found the breast cancer incidence rate in the region is higher than both the state's and the nation's incidence rates.

Retirees make up a large demographic locally. The community health profile shows 16.3 percent of the greater Portsmouth region is 65 or older, compared to 12 percent for the state and 12.4 percent for the nation. Experts in demographics do not forecast an immediate change in this trend.

But fitness centers are catering to younger generations, too.

Synergy, for example, is sinking its energies into younger members with a new program this fall called "Body Combat," where participants practice kicks, jumps and punches in a non-sparring setting. It caters to a younger audience, though athletes with a little more gray in their hair are known to enjoy the challenge and what is a solid, all-around group workout.

"It's a very empowering workout," Evans said. "It's confidence building."