How to Create Safe Exercise Routines for Older Adults Practical CPD

Description

As you add new exercises to keep class content fresh and engaging, it’s important to ensure the exercises are safe and within your scope of practice. As well as knowing what you can include, it’s equally vital to know what you shouldn’t include.

This CPD will cover exercises and movements that should be avoided by older adults so you can confidently create safe, effective and varied exercise sessions.

This will help you when choregraphing routines, adding new strength, flexibility or balance exercises, or devising games and activities.

Learning Aims

• To equip instructors with the knowledge and confidence to create safe, varied, and effective exercise classes for older adults.
• To provide a clear understanding of exercises and movements that should be avoided when working with older adults, ensuring instructors stay within their scope of practice.
• To offer practical strategies for adapting and progressing exercises, ensuring sessions remain engaging while prioritising participant safety.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this CPD course, participants will be able to:

• Identify and explain exercises and movements that are unsuitable for older adults and understand the reasoning behind these restrictions.
• Confidently modify and adapt exercises to suit varying abilities, ensuring all participants can engage safely.
• Create routines that include safe exercises for older adults.
• Apply practical knowledge of how to progress or regress exercises and activities to meet the needs of different participants.
• Integrate new exercises into their sessions while ensuring they align with safety guidelines and fall within scope of practice.
• Understand how to choreograph routines that are safe yet stimulating, making exercise enjoyable and suitable for older adults.

The morning session has been devised with an NHS physiotherapist and will cover exercises that should be avoided, the reasons why and alternative options. For example, why should head rolling be avoided and what is a safer alternative.

The afternoon session will be practical, looking at ways to progress, regress and adapt exercises and activities for older adults. You will be asked to demonstrate exercises from the FABS Training Programme, or from the exercise programme you are qualified to teach. Although this is not a formal assessment, we do encourage observation, peer support and discussion.

CPD dates: 

Online – Saturday 15th March 2025

The training day is 10am-4pm. 

For the online CPD day, we will use Zoom (please check your system requirements here) to deliver these CPDs so you will require a stable internet connection. Please read the requirements for completing your practical CPD online here. By booking an online date, you’re accepting you will meet the requirements outlined.

Please ensure you wear appropriate clothing and footwear to participate – trainers are recommended.

Please note by booking onto the CPD, you agree to these terms and conditions.