Online Fitness For Active Agers With Willow Tree Studios And Yvonne Hanning

What if aging well had less to do with marathons and more to do with small, steady moves you can stick to? We sit down with Yvonne Hanning of Willow Tree Studios to explore how online fitness for active agers turns consistency into confidence, balance, and real-world strength. Yvonne’s clients—ages 65 to 90—join live on Zoom or catch classes on their schedule, making fitness accessible for caregivers, travelers, and anyone who prefers exercising at home.

Yvonne shares how a pandemic pivot became a powerful model for connection and results. We dig into the biggest myths about older adult fitness and redraw the map between two unhelpful extremes: the mountaintop hero and the person who feels stuck. Most people live in the middle—and that’s where progress happens. From balance training and gentle strength to mobility and functional walks, Yvonne shows how even small increases in activity can improve heart health, reduce falls, and boost independence.

This conversation also moves beyond reps and sets. Yvonne opens up about a hard year marked by deep loss and how she found healing “walk by walk” in nature, with a community that showed up. We talk therapy dog training, the joy of pickleball and hikes, and the mental health benefits that grow alongside physical gains. If you’ve ever felt “too old” or “too far gone,” you’ll hear practical steps you can start today, plus smart ways to use Facebook and newsletters to stay connected and accountable.

Ready to rethink what strong looks like after 65? Press play, pick one small action, and build from there. If this story helps you or someone you love, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more neighbors can find accessible, evidence-based ways to age well.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.

SPEAKER_02 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of an amazingwellness and health facility
that thinks outside of thenormal box?
Well, one might be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, Yvonne Hanning, withWillow Tree Studios.
Yvonne, how's it going today?

SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
It's going great today.
Thanks.

SPEAKER_02 (00:35):
Tell us all about Willow Tree Studios.
You were telling me a little bitbefore we started recording, and
it sounds really interesting andoutside the box.
Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
Okay, I teach online fitness for active agers, and my
clients are people who realizethe importance of aging well.
They are super community forwardand they're leading active and
busy lives.
So this works out to be veryconvenient because they can do
it like while in real time, likewe are here, or they can watch

(01:06):
the recording on Zoom later onat their convenience.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10):
Very interesting.
So it makes it very accessiblefor anybody, no matter what
they're um how busy they are.
What made you get into thisbusiness?

SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
My love of movement began when I was a kid.
I was like one of those kidsthat was always outside and
later playing all kinds ofsports.
So fitness was a good fit forme.
And since I've been in thefitness industry, I've been
working with um primarily olderadults.
So when 2020 rolled around, Iwas working at the Fort Collins

(01:44):
Senior Center, and we, ofcourse, were out like everybody
else.
And my clients started callingme up and being like, hey, we
can't be sitting around all thetime.
What are we gonna do?
And so we all got on Zoom, andhere we are.

SPEAKER_02 (01:59):
That's neat.
What are some myths ormisconceptions in your uh niche
of the fitness industry?

SPEAKER_00 (02:07):
I think the biggest one is that there's two types of

older adults (02:11):
the mountaintop type, here I am at the top of
the mountain, or the end of themarathon, and then there's the
ones where I've fallen and Ican't get up.
But there's so much room inbetween those two ends where all
the regular people are, andthat's who I address.

(02:36):
The other misconception, I haveanother misconception, which is
that people think I've just I'mtoo old, I've gone too far, I'm
not gonna get better, butresearch really shows that
that's not true.
That even becoming taking a fewsteps and becoming a little more

(02:56):
active, you can have big healthand wellness improvements.

SPEAKER_02 (03:00):
I absolutely believe that as well.
How are you marketing yourselfto the world right now?
And do you market to the worldor do you market to a local
demographic area just in casethey want to come see you?
And how are you reaching out tothese people uh digitally?

SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
So online, I'm active on all you know, a lot of
the social media, but primarilyFacebook is where our age group
is, and Instagram, and then Ihave like a weekly news note
that I send out to people.
So I get um my clients a lotthrough word of mouth, and then

(03:41):
a lot through going to somethinglike the Better Balance Um
conference and things like that,where I can meet other people in
the industry, and then also meetclients that are coming to learn
more about health and wellness.

SPEAKER_02 (03:57):
And who is the age group?

SPEAKER_00 (04:00):
My age group is 65 to 90.
So we have a variety ofdifferent classes that would
kind of address some of thoseage groups, and we have some
different intensities, so thatalso is would you say that
Facebook is uh is the the themost important social media in

(04:23):
that age group?
Yes.
That and news notes, likenewsletters that come out that I
send out.
But a lot of people that workwith people in this age group,
they like to have something toread and get their information
that way.

SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
Right.
Uh you're in a very unusualniche for of just I haven't
heard of it for some reason.
And I wonder would if you wouldbenefit from or have you thought
about podcasting?

SPEAKER_00 (04:51):
I haven't thought about podcasting, so that'll
give me something to thinkabout, and this gives me a
little practice.

SPEAKER_02 (04:58):
What do you do for fun when you're not having fun?

SPEAKER_00 (05:01):
Oh, dog walks, number one, pickleball, number
one, hiking, number one, bookclub, number one.
I have a therapy animal.
Um, not he's in training, he's14 months old, so he's
semi-sunshine, therapy dog intraining, so we have a lot of
training that we have to do withthat, and then spending time

(05:23):
with family and friends.

SPEAKER_02 (05:26):
Nice.
Yvonne, what um is there a alife challenge, a struggle that
maybe you overcame in your lifeat some point that made you into
the uh the resilient bouncyperson that you are today?

SPEAKER_00 (05:42):
Um I think the biggest thing was in 2022.
I feel like that was like myhardest year so far.
And I just ended up facing a lotof things that that people face.
Um the death of a close friend,the death of a beloved pet, um

(06:03):
some health issues with myparents.
And I think the biggest lesson Itook away from that is that deep
grief is the price that you payfor deep love.
And so you have to, you know,get to a place with that, and

(06:26):
everybody gets there in adifferent way.
And for me, it was just gettingoutside and hiking and just
being healed walk by walk.
And I think another thing wasthat just having a group of
friends that um everybody youknow has been through a hard
time at some point, and so justknowing that they're there for

(06:49):
you and caring for you.

SPEAKER_02 (06:51):
Absolutely.
Yvonne, what would you likepeople to take away?
What's the big takeaway fromthis interview?
Um, this podcast about WillowTree Studios.

SPEAKER_00 (07:04):
I think people underestimate the small steps
that you can take to improveyour health.
It seems like being fit inpeople's minds is about like
being looking like an influenceror a bodybuilder, but there's a
lot of levels of fitness thatare easily accessible to all of

(07:25):
us.
And you can you can really getum have access to those levels
of fitness without spending allyour time in the gym.

SPEAKER_02 (07:35):
Agreed.
Yvonne, what are all the waysthat people can find you again
online?
Could you repeat the addressesthat uh that they can find you
on Instagram, Facebook, orwhatever?

SPEAKER_00 (07:45):
So on the best way to find me is just going to my
website.
It's Willowtree Studios, all oneword.net.
And there it has links to myFacebook, my Instagram, Sammy
Sunshines Face um Instagram, andum everything like that.

(08:06):
It has class schedules, all thedifferent things you would need
right there.
And you can sign up for the newsnote there, very handy.

SPEAKER_02 (08:14):
Well, Yvonne, it's been a pleasure interviewing
you, and um we we reallyappreciate you being on our
show, and we wish you and WillowTree Studios the very best
moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
Thanks, Nick.
It's been great to be here.

SPEAKER_01 (08:29):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gmpfortcollins.com.
That's gmpfortcollins.com orcall nine seven zero four three
eight zero eight two five.