Able Bodies Balance Training

ABLE Bodies training is an activity-based program designed to improve balance, mobility, and brain health for both fit and frail older adults. ABLE is an acronym for Adventures in Better Living through Exercise, and the ABLE Bodies training program is proven to enhance balance, mobility, activity levels, gait speed, flexibility, and strength for participants ages 70 years and older living in retirement communities and assisted living facilities. With ABLE Bodies Balance Training, Second Edition With HKPropel Access, fitness professionals and exercise leaders can use the ABLE Bodies program to help seniors maintain balance and functional fitness, thereby fostering increased self-confidence, reducing the occurrence of falls, and improving quality of life.

ABLE Bodies Balance Training introduces 137 activities and exercises for the program’s five foundational components: flexibility, posture and core stability, strength, balance and mobility, and cardiorespiratory endurance. Each includes step-by-step instructions, phrasing and instructions to use when encouraging participants, ways to make the activity progressively more difficult, and tips on ensuring safety while performing the exercise. The exercises and activities encourage fun, self-direction, and social interaction and are easily implemented with the use of existing facilities and inexpensive equipment.

Plus, new to this edition is information on how the aging brain benefits from exercise, supported by brain-stimulating activities that enhance cognition and improve overall brain health. A revised position glossary also explains how to set up and progress through different stances and positions to make the physical exercises most effective.

To get started, exercise leaders can guide their clients through a 16-week program that safely progresses older adults through a range of exercises. This program is suitable for either group settings or individual settings. The lessons serve as a springboard for learning how to select exercises and activities from the five component categories to customize training for each individual and to create safe, fun, and engaging classes.

Accompanying the book are related online resources that further support professionals in creating effective activity sessions. These downloadable resources include sample balance training sessions, a lesson plan template, individual PDFs of each of the 137 activities and exercises that can be shared with clients, homework handouts so clients can work on skills outside of class, additional activities to incorporate into client sessions, and a certificate of completion for clients who have completed the program.

By incorporating the ABLE Bodies training program into their work, fitness and health care professionals will be able to educate, motivate, and assist older adults to achieve greater independence and a more active, capable lifestyle.

Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with all new print books.

Sue Scott, MS, is an exercise consultant, balance specialist, educator, and author who promotes active living. In her work with older adults and through her fitness company, Renewable Fitness, Scott integrates research and American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines into physical activities that enhance balance, activities of daily living, and brain health to improve the health and well-being of seniors, particularly frail older adults.

Scott has over 25 years of experience working exclusively with seniors and fitness. She has worked in fitness as an educator, researcher, consultant, and personal trainer since 1986. She is certified as an exercise physiologist by ACSM and as a brain health trainer by the Functional Aging Institute.

Scott is the creator of the Adventures in Better Living through Exercise (ABLE) balance improvement protocols. A National Blueprint on Active Aging grant in 2003 enabled Scott to research the effectiveness of the ABLE Bodies balance techniques in a randomized, controlled trial. In 2005, Scott presented her findings at the ACSM conference in Nashville as well as the International Association of Homes and Services for the Ageing (IAHSA) conference in Norway and the American Public Health Association (APHA) conference in Philadelphia.

In her free time, Scott enjoys skiing, mountain biking, gardening, and vacationing with her family. She and her husband, Rick, and their two children reside in Happy Valley, Oregon.