Skip to content Skip to navigation
MENU
COTA Victoria Logo
Login
Get Involved
Home CLOSE
MENU
  • About
    About
    CLOSE MENU
    • Annual reports and financial statements
    • Staff
    • Board of Governance
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us
      • Current Job Opportunities
    • Our supporters
    • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
  • Policy
    Policy
    CLOSE MENU
    • Our policy priorities
    • Policy positions
    • Stories of Change
    • Policy Development Committee (PDC)
    • Aged Care
      • Telling your story
    • Assistive Technology for All
    • Ageism in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
    • Elder Abuse | Seniors Rights Victoria
    • Social Isolation
    • Submissions
    • Publications
    • End of life
    • COTA Green Sages
    Priorities for older Victorians: Submission for the Victorian State Budget 2023-24
    COTA Victoria's Strategic Plan 2023-2025
  • Information
    Information
    CLOSE MENU
    • Looking for information?
    • COVID-19 resources for older Victorians
    • COTA WISE services
    • How-to guides
    • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
    • Resources
  • News
    News
    CLOSE MENU
    • Latest News
    • Media
      • Media Releases
    • COTA Connects
      • COTA Connects Archive
      • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
    • ONE COTA magazine
  • Events
  • Our Programs
    Our Programs
    CLOSE MENU
    • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
    • Care Finders
    • Employment Support
      • Women Working Together
      • Locals Working Together
    • Living Longer Living Stronger
      • Find a Living Longer Living Stronger program in your area
      • Living Longer Living Stronger Online
      • Exercising at home
        • Random Acts of Exercise
      • Living Longer Living Stronger providers and instructors
    • Victorian Seniors Festival
    • COTA Cycling
  • About
  • Policy
  • Information
  • News
  • Events
  • Our Programs
  • Login
About
  • Annual reports and financial statements
  • Staff
  • Board of Governance
  • Contact Us
  • Work with us
  • Our supporters
  • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
Work with us
  • Current Job Opportunities
Policy
  • Our policy priorities
  • Policy positions
  • Stories of Change
  • Policy Development Committee (PDC)
  • Aged Care
  • Assistive Technology for All
  • Ageism in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Elder Abuse | Seniors Rights Victoria
  • Social Isolation
  • Submissions
  • Publications
  • End of life
  • COTA Green Sages
Aged Care
  • Telling your story
Information
  • Looking for information?
  • COVID-19 resources for older Victorians
  • COTA WISE services
  • How-to guides
  • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
  • Resources
News
  • Latest News
  • Media
  • COTA Connects
  • ONE COTA magazine
Media
  • Media Releases
COTA Connects
  • COTA Connects Archive
  • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
Our Programs
  • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
  • Care Finders
  • Employment Support
  • Living Longer Living Stronger
  • Victorian Seniors Festival
  • COTA Cycling
Employment Support
  • Women Working Together
  • Locals Working Together
Living Longer Living Stronger
  • Find a Living Longer Living Stronger program in your area
  • Living Longer Living Stronger Online
  • Exercising at home
  • Living Longer Living Stronger providers and instructors
Exercising at home
  • Random Acts of Exercise

Happy Birthday to Us!

14 December 202003/05/2021
Fitness, Health and Wellbeing, Mental Health
Happy Birthday to Us! preview image

On the 15th DecemberLiving Longer Living Stronger™ will be exactly 20 years old!

Over that time, the program has served thousands of older Victorians, keeping them strong and enabling them to continue doing the things that they love for longer.

There have been many twists and turns over the past 20 years. If you have been involved with the program you just might enjoy a walk (or jog!) down memory lane!

Living Longer Living Stronger™ evolved off the back of some groundbreaking research around improving health and wellbeing benefits of older adults engaged in weight training. 20 years ago, the local gymnasium was a haunt for the young and Lycra-clad. Many older adults did not feel welcome and the national trends pointed to older adults becoming significantly more sedentary.

Sue Hendy, former CEO of COTA Victoria, aimed to change this and looked overseas for program examples that paired older adults with weight training. Taking into consideration the basic training principles of strength overload (this is an industry term that simply means, we get stronger when we increase weights over time, or vary the type of exercise).

Our muscles get stronger when a moderate amount of stress is applied, and it is not the prerogative of the young to enjoy the benefits of strength training!

Here are some practical examples of what weight training can do for you:

  • strengthen bones – which can mean the difference between breaking a hip (or not) when taking a fall
  • improve range of movement – meaning an improved golf or tennis swing
  • increase metabolic rate – resting muscle mass consumes calories, which means weight loss
  • improve posture and general aches and pains
  • improve mental health
  • improve most chronic condition outcomes.

The research also shared the principles that encouraged older adults to join and to stay committed to the program. The social aspect of the Living Longer Living Stronger program is as integral as the weight and balance specific exercises. Our program is designed around enjoying the program in a group setting, even if each participant is working on a slightly different program designed for their specific needs.

The hard work is rewarded with a cuppa afterwards. Birthdays are celebrated and social outings are planned.

In early 2019, Victoria was one of the states that received significant funding to update the program and work with some of the other states who had been delivering the same program under the brand Strength for Life.

Some of these updates included working with exercise physiologists and physiotherapists for those with some tricky chronic conditions. And we trialled a rebranding across the state.

However, when COVID hit in early 2020, the effects were keenly felt in Victoria. Responding to the demands of those home-bound and unable to visit the gym, we created a version of the program that was delivered online. As many Victorians become fluent with Zoom, they were soon enjoying both the physical and social benefits of our much loved program.

As 2020 draws to a close and the funding for the converting of Living Longer Living Stronger™ program into the Strength for Life brand runs out, we in Victoria have had to look hard at what serves our communities best.

Strength for Life is a trademark that dictates that the program cannot be delivered online and adheres to some strict guidelines on how the program is administered.

Our Living Longer Living Stronger™ program has served our communities in both regional and metro Victoria well over the last 20 years. Through the Sport Australia funding over the last two years, we have been able to introduce the Tier 1 (physiotherapists and exercise physiologists) and Tier 2 providers (exercise professionals) and provide better programming for those with one or more chronic conditions. We have also been able to update the training program for those instructors who deliver exercise to older adults.

However, we want to keep our online option as it is a great convenience for many. Online access works for both those who have trouble finding a park, to those who in regional Victoria who live too far to attend in person.

And we want to keep our name. A nod to the success of the last 20 years.

So as of 2021, we will be returning to the name Living Longer Living Stronger™!

We hope that you will like the new branding, which has strong links to the COTA logo, and will include an online option for those who prefer or find they are unable to attend in person.

What hasn’t changed is our commitment to our three values:

  1. Our program adheres to the principles that improve strength and balance.
  2. Strong social interactions are as important as strong bodies.
  3. Affordably priced.

Welcome to the next 20 years!

Join us today! Find your nearest Living Longer Living Stronger™ venue – or try the online version!

strength training

RELATED NEWS

Have your say: National online survey on public transport accessibility preview image

Have your say: National online survey on public transport accessibility

21 March 2023
Read more
Read more
A new link between trusted health services and aged care services preview image

A new link between trusted health services and aged care services

20 March 2023
Read more
Read more
Information and education to plan for your future preview image

Information and education to plan for your future

17 March 2023
Read more
Read more
SHARE THIS CONTENT:
COTA Victoria Logo
  • About
  • Policy
  • Information
  • News
  • Events
  • Our Programs
Seniors Rights Victoria Registered Charity
Follow on
Facebook
COTA FEDERATION
  • ACT
  • New South Wales
  • Northern Territory
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia
COTA Western Australia COTA Northern Territory COTA Queensland COTA New South Wales COTA ACT COTA Victoria COTA South Australia COTA Tasmania
Follow on
Twitter
GET INVOLVED
  • Seniors Rights Victoria
  • COTA Connects newsletter
  • Get Involved
  • COTA Insurance
  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on LinkedIn
  • Follow on Instagram
  • Contact Us
Seniors Rights Victoria
TERMS PRIVACY CONTACT SITEMAP
© 2023 COTA Victoria ABN 81 960 500 420 WEB DESIGN CODE AND VISUAL
Back to top
All correspondence may also be collected and stored, particularly in regard to registrations, including Email. Any information collected by COTA Victoria is collected via correspondence from you or your organisation. This may be via the telephone, Email, mail, fax or directly through our website.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT