This interactive online course presents you with strategies for adapting flexibility, cardiorespiratory, and resistance training principles so that you can design and implement fitness programs for older adults. Developed by Maxine B. Friedman, MEd, the course is supplemented by the text, Exercise for Older Adults, by the American Council on Exercise.

During the course, you will assume the role of a newly hired fitness center trainer. Your six-day orientation will feature Ms. Watson, the virtual director of the fitness center, Fitness, Inc. You will interact with virtual clients in real-life situations as you move through a series of situations and exercises. A brief quiz will complete each daily session. Ms. Watson will work with you as you learn about these issues:

Day 1: Screening and Goal Setting-You will learn how and when to adapt the screening and fitness assessment procedures for older adults based on their different functional levels. Ms. Watson will help you improve your interviewing skills and will work with you to determine whether each client is physically frail, physically dependent, physically independent, physically fit, or physically elite. Working with Ms. Watson, you'll identify different exercises that you can include in exercise programs to help your client reach his or her goals. The session will conclude with a short quiz on screening and goal setting.

Day 2: Training Principles and Leveled Programming-Ms. Watson will present information to help you identify the program needs of each client based on his or her screening and functional level. Your fitness center offers multi-level programming designed to meet the needs of adults representing a range of functional abilities. By the end of this session, you'll be able to use training principles to help you make general recommendations for the client's fitness program. You'll also be able to use different methods of monitoring exercise intensity. At the end of this session, Ms. Watson will give you a short quiz to help you assess your learning.

Day 3: Safety and Effectiveness-Safety and effectiveness are concerns when you're working with any client, but there are some important issues that you need to be especially aware of when working with older adults. Ms. Watson will begin this session by explaining that exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for older adults. She will also point out that chronic health conditions may limit physical activity. To help you understand these chronic health conditions, Ms. Watson will present information on metabolic disorders, musculoskeletal conditions, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory conditions. She will also discuss side effects of medications commonly used by older adults. Her main goal in this session will be to help you understand how exercise can help older adults maintain or improve their functional level and to take into account the major health issues faced by older adults as you design exercise programs for them. The session will conclude with a short quiz.

Day 4 and Day 5: Exercise Program Components-You'll identify specific components of a fitness program for each of your clients. By the end of this session you'll be able to apply training principles to all program components; you'll learn the appropriate methods and specific techniques for warm-up, cardiovascular exercise, and cool-down in various modes of exercise; you'll understand how to adapt exercises for your client's functional level; and you'll also understand how to help clients improve their muscular strength. Ms. Watson will help you to learn about various methods of flexibility training, and she'll expect you to be able to identify the parameters for stretching in an exercise program. You'll also work with your clients to help them incorporate relaxation techniques into their exercise programs. Ms. Watson will present information about balance and coordination techniques that are appropriate for older adults. You'll conclude this session with a discussion of one-to-one training techniques. Ms. Watson will then give you short quizzes on the topics covered in Day 4 and Day 5.

Day 6: Program Progression, Motivation, and Compliance-Ms. Watson will want you to understand the general guidelines for progression in an older adult's exercise program. Once the initial program is designed, you'll want your client to understand that maintaining or improving his or her functional level will depend on changing the exercise program. To do this you should be familiar with techniques for communication with clients, and Ms. Watson will help you to practice providing different types of feedback to your clients. You'll want to be able to use feedback to motivate your clients and to gain their compliance. The session will conclude with a brief quiz.

Finally, an online test will evaluate your understanding of the material covered by the interactive course and supplemental text.

NOTE: The text is required for successful completion of the course. If you already own the text, you would order the course without the text.

System Requirements

This course is designed to work best when your computer and Internet browser are configured to the following technical requirements and setup specifications:

• Internet Explorer 5.5+ (Windows), Netscape Navigator 7.1+, Mozilla 1.7+, or Firefox 1.0+.
• Computer monitor preferences set for 640 X 480 resolution or larger.
• Adobe Flash Player version 5+. To download the free Flash Player, click on the button below.
• Browser pop-up blockers disabled.

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