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New Partnership Provides Fitness Professionals with Foundation to Lead Senior Adults in Safe and Effective Exercise

Posted: May 12, 2015 in

ACE® Offers Enhance®Fitness Instructors Five-Part Education Program Focused on Working with Senior Adults to Sustain Active, Healthy Lifestyles 

SAN DIEGO, May 12, 2015–With nearly 50 million Americans currently over the age of 65, and with that number projected to reach 83 million by 2050, there is a rapidly growing need for education to help fitness professionals safely and effectively serve the senior adult population in physical activity. To meet this need, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) teamed with EnhanceFitness, a licensed program of Senior Services, to provide its instructors with foundational knowledge to lead senior adults in safe and effective group exercise classes, helping them live active and healthier lifestyles longer.

Recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a top-tier evidence-based program, EnhanceFitness has served more than 50,000 senior adults across 31 states. EnhanceFitness has proven to significantly increase physical function, decrease depression and improve social interaction in senior adults and focuses on cardiovascular exercise, strength training, balance, and flexibility. EnhanceFitness partnered with ACE to ensure its instructors had access to high quality education that would provide them with a deeper understanding of how to lead exercise programs for older adults safely and effectively, and incorporate appropriate modifications and techniques to increase their longevity and boost quality of life as they age.

“Our partnership with Senior Services’ EnhanceFitness program strengthens our efforts in supporting older adults to live their most fit lives longer,” said ACE President and CEO Scott Goudeseune. “By teaming up with EnhanceFitness, we offer their instructors the educational tools necessary for them to understand the unique health and fitness needs of senior adults, while delivering exercise programs that decrease their risks of developing chronic diseases, and help them stay strong, energized and empowered to sustain active lifestyles.”

The ACE education program is a five-part course designed to complement the educational foundation of EnhanceFitness instructors by addressing common chronic health issues faced by older adults, such as musculoskeletal challenges, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Courses within the program include:

• The Essentials of Group Exercise Leadership, Movement Science, and Participant Safety
• Common Health Challenges Faced by Older Adults
• Chronic Musculoskeletal Challenges and Exercise
• The Fitness Professional’s Guide to Training Clients with Osteoarthritis
• Exercise and Osteoporosis

“We are proud to collaborate with ACE, a trusted authority on fitness and wellness that places a strong emphasis on safe and effective physical activity—something that EnhanceFitness takes very seriously,” said Paula Houston, CEO of Senior Services. “With access to ACE’s education program, EnhanceFitness instructors can gain an understanding of how to connect with older adults and the knowledge needed to deliver appropriate exercise programs that combat the effects of age-specific health challenges faced by the thousands of senior adults they work with nationwide.”

For more information about EnhanceFitness, visit: http://projectenhance.org/EnhanceFitness.aspx.

For EnhanceFitness instructors interested in the ACE education program, log into your secure account at projectenhance.org for more details.

About ACE

The nonprofit American Council on Exercise (ACE) educates, certifies, and represents more than 55,000 fitness professionals, health coaches, and other allied health professionals. ACE advocates for a new intersection of fitness and health care, bringing the highly qualified professionals that ACE represents into the healthcare continuum so they can contribute to the national solution to physical inactivity and obesity. ACE is the largest certifier in its space; all four of its primary certification programs are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the gold standard in the United States for assessing professional competence. ACE also plays an important public-service role, conducting research and making available science-based information, and resources on safe and effective physical activity and sustainable behavior change. For more information, call (800) 825-3636 or visit ACEfitness.org. AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EXERCISE, ACE and ACE logos are Registered Trademarks of the American Council on Exercise.

About Senior Services

Senior Services promotes positive aging for senior adults throughout King County, Washington. Through their integrated system of quality programs and senior centers, they build a just society where aging adults and those who care about them can live their best lives. Their services include Information & Assistance; Meals on Wheels & Mobile Market; Community Dining; Volunteer Transportation; Hyde Shuttle; EnhanceFitness & EnhanceWellness; Minor Home Repair; Family & Caregiver Support; Senior Rights Assistance; Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA); and Senior Centers.

Established in 1967, Senior Services is the most comprehensive non-profit agency serving older adults and their loved ones in Washington State. In 2014, the organization served nearly 72,000 seniors and caregivers. This group is also increasingly diverse, so achieving their vision is possible only through a commitment to social justice and improving access to services by elders of color, Native American, LGBT, rural, immigrant and refugee elders, as well as those living with chronic illness and disability. More than 3,800 volunteers and 250 employees make Senior Services’ work possible and efficient. For more information, visit: www.seniorservices.org.

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