Group Activities Tip the Scales Toward Social Fitness

We all know that physical fitness is fundamental to maintaining a healthy body. If the scale starts to tip in a direction you don’t like, you might start exercising and dieting. But what do you do if your relationships start to drift? If your social fitness scale tips toward isolation and loneliness, how do you get back into “shape?”?

Social fitness is a concept that Americans are only beginning to understand. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy highlighted just this past year that social isolation and loneliness are as detrimental to a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Just as we need to put effort into getting physically active, getting socially active takes a bit of intentionality.

Dr. Murthy notes that “our ability to interact with others socially is a muscle. It's a social muscle, and like any other muscle, it can get weaker if we don't use it and it can get stronger if we do use it.”

Unlike physical fitness, however, there are no books or podcasts or a $35 billion industry dedicated to building up one’s social fitness. It can be difficult to know how to get started. What relationship-building does have going for it (that diet and exercise don’t) is this: It’s fun.

Working at the world’s only social fitness activity benefits manager, I have seen firsthand how enabling health plan members to access in-person and virtual activity groups has changed lives.?

Our focus on popular activities that promote healthy aging (like pickleball, bridge, bowling, gardening and Mahjong to name a few) helps older adults to connect through the things that they love to do.?

This, in turn, addresses the physical, social and emotional drivers of good health, specifically through connection and belonging. What’s more, people actually enjoy their social fitness “workouts.” Group activities are 10-times more popular than gym memberships and 10-times more engaging.

One of our pickleball social ambassadors, Linda Jacobsen, explained that her post-retirement social fitness had started to decline to the point that she was a self-described “couch potato.” By joining a pickleball club, she gained friendships, joy and a jam-packed social calendar.?

“I made more friends than I could have ever imagined,” she said. “My emotional health is excellent due to having so many exceptional friends and relationships.”

In Linda’s case, the pickleball club came to replace the social fabric she had created through her working life. In the case of Ruth Kennedy, who joined a quilter’s guild after moving to a new community, her activity group extended well beyond what she’d experienced before.

"I lived in Bradenton, Manatee County for years and probably only had two or three people I considered friends. But up here, when I joined the Guild, I probably sew with about 10 of them every Monday," Ruth said.

I’m proud of the role that Grouper has played in enabling and encouraging people to get connected in meaningful and healthy ways. We are helping build their social fitness strength, bringing joy to their lives and – as the medical evidence has shown – even helping them to improve their overall health.

Just as bench presses build up physical fitness, frequently engaging in group activities build social fitness. Or as Linda put it: “I’m now 70, and my social life has been brimming with fun, wonderful friendships and exciting activities.”?