Senior Living

Holiday Retirement Creates Great Places to Live

Holiday Retirement Corp. follows a philosophy they call The Touch – the belief that residents have lived long lives, worked hard, and deserve consistent caring and respect. Deb Gee, the company’s Fitness Facilitator, says The Touch is the crux of their operations, and the importance of building relationships is stressed among all staff. Holiday is the world’s largest owner and operator of retirement housing, serving more than 34,000 residents with an average age of 83. It has 292 facilities in 40 states and seven Canadian provinces, as well as properties in the United Kingdom.

An exercise component is offered at every Holiday community, and most are headed by an activities director who teaches exercise classes and arranges a wide variety of activities and entertainment.

One standard item at all new Holiday communities is the NuStep® Recumbent Cross Trainer. Ms. Gee, who is a Physical Therapist Assistant and has a Master's Degree in exercise science, spotted the NuStep® at a sports medicine conference in 1993, and brought it to the attention of Holiday management. Ms. Gee likes the NuStep for her residents because it is easy to use, safe, and helps improve their independence by building endurance and leg strength. She says nearly every resident is able to exercise on it regardless of their age or physical limitations – something that is not true of most other equipment. After shopping and comparing recumbent trainers on the market, Ms. Gee prefers the NuStep, and says, "My goal is to have a NuStep® Recumbent Cross Trainer in every Holiday Retirement community."