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Neighbors

Meet Your Neighbor: Tempe senior driven by passion for fitness

Posted 8/1/22

Vickie Aigner has always been passionate about health, but that drive only intensified when she lost her late husband to a heart attack in 2001. 

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Neighbors

Meet Your Neighbor: Tempe senior driven by passion for fitness

Posted

Vickie Aigner has always been passionate about health, but that drive only intensified when she lost her late husband to a heart attack in 2001. 

Grieving and caring for six young children, Aigner’s passion for fitness became an outlet for her loss and turned into a decades-long career. She even credits her wellness experience with overcoming a recent bout of rectal cancer. 

“It was the profession I chose to pursue to support my family,” she said. “It was perfect as I could inspire others to incorporate healthy habits into their lives to not only look their best but feel their best and it helped in my healing process as well.”

In 2017, Aigner began working with senior clients and in 2019, along with her daughter Sophie, started her business Alive, Fit & Free to help older people stay in shape through the aging process and stay connected to others. She serves as the company’s co-founder and chief fitness officer. The program’s oldest client is 101-year-old Lois from California, who joins the on-demand virtual classes and can do 35 squats. The classes can be modified based on mobility.

“I love that I can teach others how to feel their best, to not only live longer, but live better for longer,” the Tempe resident said. “I love that we are a community and build amazing relationships with each other and help to combat isolation. What I do is not a job, it is my passion.”

Q&A

Name: Vickie Aigner

Age: 69

Occupation: Co-founder and Chief Fitness Officer of Alive, Fit & Free 

What I like most about what I do:

I love helping others feel better, I love to encourage and inspire and motivate people to embrace life. I love giving people the freedom to be happy and laugh and be silly - to be real - and that's what we do in our classes and in our community. We educate our clients on how the movements we do affect them on four levels: physically, mentally, emotionally and energetically. 

What is a challenging aspect of your job?

I think for me the most challenging aspect of my job, and I do love a challenge, is to be able to watch someone with limited movement and figure out how to help correct that issue through specific movements and techniques, whether that would be a frozen shoulder or a locked-up hip joint. Our human body is an amazing instrument.

If I had picked a different occupation it might have been:

Most likely a travel guide as I love to travel and experience different cultures. Not only do I enjoy staying in luxury hotels, but for me the best part is exploring the out of the way places and ethnic neighborhoods where the people live. We get a real taste of the culture, traditions, beliefs and way of life in other countries that can enrich our wellbeing so much!

One thing I want my clients to know about me:

My clients have enriched my life so much and I am so blessed to be able to spend time with them. They think I’m the teacher but honestly, spending time with them teaches me so much about life.