ISSA trainer giving a group exercise class with mature adult clients.

Functional Aging Group Exercise Specialist

Specialize in group exercise for older adults.

Learn how to apply functional exercise techniques and methods when training groups of older individuals, helping them to maintain and/or improve their functional fitness levels.

How It Works

What You'll Learn

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What is Functional Aging Group Exercise?

A common mistake in the fitness industry, and many industries for that matter, is a failure to appreciate the immense diversity that exists within the older adult market. The fact is that the 55+ market consists of a remarkably diverse group of individuals that vary tremendously in physical abilities, life experiences, interests, socioeconomic status, health status, and numerous other ways. In the Functional Aging Group Exercise course, you'll gain an understanding of how older adults differ from their younger counterparts and even from one another. This course is an amazing opportunity for fitness professionals who want to take the time to understand older clients' distinct needs and desires to develop programs and train them safely and effectively.

What You’ll Learn From This Course

This course was designed for group exercise instructors who want to specialize in training older adults. Upon completion of the Functional Aging Group Exercise Specialist Certification course, you will:

Be able to explain what functional aging is and the role that functional exercise plays in health and wellness as we grow older, including the benefits that this approach to fitness provides.
Better understand the principles and methodologies utilized in a functional training program, particularly when that program is geared toward clients who are in their 50s and up.
Gain the skills needed to apply functional training techniques in a group setting, which often involves working with people who have various fitness levels and different levels of physical function.
Know how to develop a functional exercise group routine that is geared toward people who are advancing in age, which includes considering functional limitations common to this demographic.
Recognize how to break individual portions of the group training session down into smaller chunks that are more understandable and easier for certain group participants to perform.
Have the knowledge and skills required to lead all sizes of groups of older adults through a functional exercise program, both big and small.

How You Can Use It:

Age is often referred to chronologically (e.g., someone is X years old). However, functional age takes into consideration a variety of other factors, including the person’s status physiologically. In older adults, this involves looking at not just their eyesight, hearing, and memory, but also their mobility and physical function. A functional fitness program is aimed at the latter, and also where you can make a huge difference as a Functional Aging Group Exercise Specialist.

With this certification, you will be able to play a positive role in older people’s lives, helping them gain the strength and fitness needed to achieve and maintain maximum mobility and physical function. As a group instructor, you have the ability to reach several clients at a time, also exposing them to others in their age group who may have similar functional concerns or issues.

Earning your Functional Aging Group Exercise Specialist Certification tells potential clients that you have the knowledge and skills needed to work with their demographic. It also sets you apart from other fitness trainers and coaches who lack this designation, providing you with more credibility in the fitness industry.

Functional aging group exercise specialists might work for gyms and fitness centers, or senior centers and assisted living facilities. Wherever you decide to apply what you learn in this course, you will be in a unique position to help others improve their physical function, which can also help improve their quality of life.