What is EnhanceFitness?
EnhanceFitness (EF) is a low-cost, evidence-based group exercise and falls prevention program that helps older adults at all levels of fitness become more active, energized, and empowered.
“The women & men in the group are a great support system to keep me motivated to continue to exercise. EnhanceFitness has become a necessary element in my life.”
– An EnhanceFitness Participant
You can recognize an EnhanceFitness class by the relaxed atmosphere and the laughter in the room—whether offered in-person or remotely. A full hour of fun, EnhanceFitness focuses on dynamic cardiovascular exercise, strength training, balance, and flexibility.
EnhanceFitness participants are led by a certified instructor with special training to bring out the physical best from older adults. A typical one-hour session includes:
- A 5-minute warm-up to get the blood flowing to the muscles
- A 20-minute aerobic workout that gets participants moving
- A 5-minute cool-down to lower the heart rate safely
- A 20-minute strength training workout with soft cuff weights on the arms and legs (0 up to 20 pounds)
- A 10-minute stretching workout to keep the muscles flexible
- Dynamic and static balance exercises throughout the class
- Lots of opportunities for participants to make new friends
Beyond cuff weights, EnhanceFitness classes do not require any special equipment. A certified instructor, who has completed the EnhanceFitness training, will safely lead the class through an hour of exercises at a pace that’s right for the participants. To ensure that the instructor can attend to all participants, in-person classes are limited to 25 participants, and remote classes to 12 participants.
Participants’ progress is tracked with fitness checks completed at the time the individual joins EnhanceFitness, again after four months, and then as often as needed.
Over 99% of participants say they would recommend EnhanceFitness to a friend.
The program is proven to:
- Improve physical function
- Decrease depression
- Protect against falls and fall injury
- Provide a social benefit
- Promote a physically active lifestyle
- Reduce medical care utilization costs
- Decrease unplanned hospitalizations
- Decrease mortality rates
Managed by Sound Generations in Seattle, WA (formerly known as Senior Services) in collaboration with the University of Washington Health Promotion Research Center, and offered by hundreds of organizations around the USA, EnhanceFitness benefits from continuous research, evaluation and feedback from affiliates that informs ongoing program development.
Review EnhanceFitness research to learn more about program results and replication.
Find out more about the benefits of EnhanceFitness for your clients and about bringing EnhanceFitness to your organization.