What is sport For those who, with 31 degrees and sunshine in brightly colored, tight-fitting clothing, on sinfully expensive and super-light high-tech bicycles, pedal up any incline, who just dashed past the ice cream parlor on Pullacher Kirchplatz with a tired, compassionate smile on them Have gourmet food left – for this, often male species, sport is one thing above all else: high performance, overcoming your own limits – such as those of old age – and pure asceticism. Instead of sugary ice-cream balls, there might be a muscle-building protein shake from the shandy bottle attached to the back of the professional shirt.
For others it is sport when they go up the stairs to the roof terrace right next to the Rabenwirt in Pullach at 31 degrees, spread their yoga mat there and before the beginning of the outdoor lesson “gentle yoga” ask the nice teacher to do it again To take it easy with the stretches at these temperatures. At a really old age, when you have passed 80, for example, it is already considered sport if you even go outside and go around the block with a walker or Nordic walking sticks. In a Grünwald retirement home, however, this minimalist definition of retired sport is over. Here it is now: “Top form. Sport knows no age.”
The “Parkresidenz Helmine Held” is one of 20 senior citizens’ facilities taking part in a six-month project run by the Technical University of Munich. Twenty senior citizens have agreed to practice 45 minutes twice a week on equipment for “multimodal strength, coordination and endurance training”. “Movement lifts the mood, promotes well-being and counteracts frailty,” claims nursing director Katharina Wernicke. The oldest test subject, a 96-year-old, expresses himself diplomatically: “It’s unusual, but I think it’s fun and good for me.” But he’s secretly looking forward to the cozy evening round the block.