LA Fitness boots Silver-Sneakers out the door! Silver-Sneakers group say they feel like LA Fitness has given them the heave-ho

Paul Anderson and a small band of retirees worked out together at Lifestyle Family Fitness for years.

That’s changed now that LA Fitness, which bought Lifestyle over the summer, decided to stop participating in the Silver-Sneakers Fitness Program, which provides gym memberships to seniors through their insurance plans. The new owner is also closing the Oakfield Drive gym and building a huge new fitness center at the site of the old Publix Supermarket in Valrico.

The Brandon Silver-Sneakers group that met almost daily at the Oakfield Drive Lifestyle gym has officially broken up, its members scattering in an effort to get their exercise workouts covered at other locations.

Some had been working out together for about 15 years.

“I always tell the guys the show must go on,” said Anderson, famous for calling members of the group who fail to show up for the daily workout. “The lady at the front desk called me a motivator.”

She’s not there anymore, and Anderson learned of the change from a letter posted at the gym’s front door, saying the SilverSneakers program was being discontinued.

Members of the Silver-Sneakers group say they feel like LA Fitness has given them the heave-ho because they don’t want to give anyone a discount and want to focus on younger customers.

“We meet here in the mornings, work out and solve the world’s issues,” said Miguel Reece, an Air Force retiree who hooked up with the group a few years ago. “We talk about the football game and encourage each other.

“I believe it’s absolutely immoral for them to throw the seniors out.”

The LA Fitness corporate office did not return calls seeking comment for this story, but a woman at the Lifestyle on Oakfield, who would not give her name, said the company will still offer classes for seniors but will no longer accept insurance to cover membership.

Anderson has since joined the Campo Family YMCA in Bloomingdale; another member of the group, the Rev. Leroy Vann, now goes to Youfit in Valrico.

“But the whole thing is that this broke up the group,” Vann said. “They could have just grandfathered us in, but they didn’t.”

“Our circle of friends has totally disbanded,” Reece said. “Before, we got up with a purpose. I knew if I didn’t get up and meet them to work out that I’d get a call. It’s really sad.”

SilverSneakers is meant to encourage seniors to take control of their health, with an emphasis on physical activity. A number of health plans are now offering it as a benefit.

Youfit Health Clubs, which has locations in Valrico and Brandon, is now participating in the Silver-Sneakers program.

Tampa area YMCA fitness centers also accept SilverSneakers members.

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