Level Up With Grandma: Older Russians Set Personal Bests With Online Workouts
Tyumen is expanding PROkachayemsya (Let’s Level Up), a digital service focused on active longevity for residents over 55. The project already brings together more than 10,000 people, 150 sports locations and more than 70 fitness instructors who help participants improve their physical condition and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The service combines online workouts, information about available public sports facilities and even a brain-training tool. The project is part of Babushkin vorkaut. Prodlyonka (Grandma’s Workout. After-School Program), an initiative of the Starshye pokoleniye (Older Generation) charitable foundation.
Level Up Your Body and Brain
The platform’s main goal is to break down barriers between people and technology and help older adults maintain a healthy lifestyle. It is not an easy task. Most older people remain disengaged from sports, and there are many reasons why. Some believe exercise at an advanced age is not for them, some cannot afford a gym, while others need motivation and good company to get moving.
PROkachayemsya makes exercise more accessible because getting started requires little more than visiting the website. Users have access to two core fitness sections. One is an interactive guide to the city’s best outdoor exercise areas. The other offers online workouts. Its Videouroki (Video Lessons) section features clear, safe exercise routines recorded by “silver” mentors, designed around the needs of people over 55 and suitable even for those starting with minimal physical fitness.
A healthy lifestyle involves more than exercise. That is why PROkachayemsya also offers a broader set of digital tools for self-care. The site includes Tvoy lichnyy doktor (Your Personal Doctor), a service that lets users assess their current physical condition through a quick screening. Another section, Ekspertnaya prokachka (Expert Level-Up), provides a library of useful articles with advice from doctors and nutritionists to help users improve their diets and quality of life. There is also Kognitivnyy trenazher (Cognitive Trainer), a dedicated collection of engaging games and puzzles for people who want to keep not just their muscles but their minds in shape.
The platform also offers a unique opportunity to try becoming a “silver” fitness instructor. Users who feel ready to motivate others simply need to click the Vstupit v proyekt (Join the Project) button. According to the site’s creators, additional features will be added to the portal over time.
A Website as a Path to Active Longevity
At the regional level, the project addresses an important social challenge: getting people over 55 involved in exercise and a more active lifestyle. Other regions could adopt Tyumen’s experience by launching similar platforms with useful services. According to a study by HSE University published in 2025, about 70% of older Russians use smartphones. That makes a unified online platform offering practical services a relevant way to engage older residents.
The project’s goal, however, is not to leave people at home browsing the internet but to get them outside. And it is succeeding: on Tyumen City Day, the Babushkin vorkaut. Prodlyonka team from the city’s Starshye pokoleniye charitable foundation performed a dance routine on the main stage. Midway through, the performance turned into a flash mob as younger people joined the group to dance. Experiences like this make the project’s benefits and reach tangible.
A Full-Fledged Digital Social Service
The main value of PROkachayemsya lies in changing how active-longevity programs are delivered. Instead of a collection of disconnected offline events, the project offers a convenient digital guide to available opportunities and activities. Russian regions are moving in the same direction: a similar model operates in St. Petersburg, while an online component of Moskovskoye dolgoletiye (Moscow Longevity) is also being developed.
Experts expect the Tyumen platform to evolve by expanding its map of sports locations and activity catalog, adding unified online registration and personal accounts, and integrating with the regionwide Aktivnoye dolgoletiye (Active Longevity) resource. With those additions, PROkachayemsya could grow from an informational website into a full-fledged digital social service for older residents.
