Page 6
January 31, 2018
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Fitness
with
‘JJ’
J anita
‘JJ’ J ones
by
Happy 75th birthday to my grandma! She has
survived cancer and has outlived two of her three
ex husbands. She is hilarious and is also extremely
active. She swims weekly at Columbia Pool, trains
with her walking group and will be participating in
this year’s Portland-to-Coast relay for what I be-
lieve will be her sixth or seventh time.
As you can see grandma is hard to keep up with!
She calls me when she has ideas that I should put in
my articles. This one is for her.
Grandma reminded me of the importance of
drinking water first thing in the morning to get
yourself hydrated. We have talked about this pre-
viously but now it’s coming from grandma so you
have to listen.
My grandma keeps a glass of water by her bed
and will drink the whole thing when her alarm goes
off in the morning. She makes a great point. Re-
member if you are reapplying Chapstick constantly
and your lips are brittle or cracking that is a sign
of dehydration. Follow grandma’s rules and drink
some water!
Grandma also wanted me to share some exer-
cises for seniors using a chair. Chair exercises are
wonderful for taking the stress off your joints.
Young or well seasoned, chair workouts can keep
you active. Low intensity and modifications make
Keeping
Up with
Grandma
chair exercises wonderful for any ability. Here are
a few you can do for a time or set number:
Seated in a chair with feet on ground raise your
hands above your hand and alternate straight leg
raises.
Seated in a chair raise both hands shoulder height
with palms down. Swing your arms back (keeping
them straight) to a 45 degree angle and bend over at
the same time. Swing your arms back up shoulder
height and sit up tall. Repeat.
Seated in a chair scoot to the edge of the chair
and keep your legs straight. Put your hands behind
your head and bend forward at the waist and then
bend back to your starting position. Keep your bel-
ly button sucked into your back for good posture
and repeat.
These exercises will get you going. Perfect to do
in-between meetings, while seated at your desk or
while you wait for the grands to come over and play!
Janita “JJ” Jones is a fitness professional and
sports journalist for the Portland Observer. You
can find her cheering on her alma maters, the Uni-
versity of Nevada and Benson High School, chas-
ing after her baby dragons, coaching amazing ath-
letes and teaching exercise classes. Reach her via
email at jj@portlandobserver.com or Instagram @
runjanitarun.
TriMet Approves Low Income Fare
TriMet will launch a new
low-income fare program on
July 1.
People of low income will qualify for reduced fares on TriMet buses
and trains starting July 1.
The transit agency’s board last
week approved the new fare which
makes those who meet a low-in-
come designation qualify for an
Honored Citizen Fare. TriMet’s
Honored Citizen fare is currently
$1.25, which is half the cost of an
Adult Fare.
TriMet was provided a dedi-
cated funding source for a low-in-
come fare program in the Legis-
lature last year and that paved the
way for the new policy, TriMet
officials said.
Prior to that, TriMet spent sev-
eral years researching a sustain-
able approach for such a program
and, in coordination with Metro,
convened a task force to begin de-
velopment of a low-income fare
program.
Individuals who earn up to 200
percent of the federal poverty lev-
el will qualify for the new pro-
gram. Under current guidelines,
individuals earning an annual in-
come up to $23,760 would quali-
fy, as would a family of four with
earnings up to $48,600.
Over the next few months,
TriMet’s low-income fare project
team will work to build out the
new program’s database, registra-
tion process, outreach and market-
ing plan and community and rider
training materials.