"What do I do to make physical activity fun, and how can I keep exercise program participants enthusiastic?" These are common questions among activity directors and program administrators who work with older adults. Now there are some ready answers in Active Older Adults: Ideas for Action.

This excellent manual provides a collection of 15 award-winning fitness programs for older adults. The ideas and activities, which have been gathered from programs across the country, are presented in a consistent and easy-to-understand format. Directions for implementing the programming ideas are included, as are sample charts, brochures, registration and safety forms, newsletters, and a listing of resources that will ensure a successful program.

The book presents a full spectrum of approaches to helping older adults get and stay fit. Some of the programs provide introductions to basic fitness principles while others explain how to lead older adults in specific activities, such as strength training, line dancing, and water walking. There are also low-stress programs for individuals with cardiovascular or joint problems.

A common thread woven through all of these winning fitness programs is the issue of social support. The book makes it clear to program leaders that the support and encouragement of peers is vital to the success of participants.

Active Older Adults is the only resource activity directors and program administrators will need to start a successful exercise program for seniors. It's filled with programming ideas and lots of helpful resources.

Contents

Introduction

Marketing Guide: Tips for Promoting Your Fitness Program or Event

A Report of the Surgeon General: Physical Activity and Health for Older Adults

Part I: Program Ideas

Exercise Challenge

5 Plus 5

Line Dancing for Seniors

Maple Knoll Wellness Center

Moving Targets

Oak Hill Village Fitness Club

Partners in Fitness, Inc.

Plano Senior Games

S.E.E. S.A.W. Exercises (Seniors Exercising Effectively While Sitting Around Waiting)

Silver Sneakers

The Village at Duxbury

Vital Life Center-"It's Never Too Late to Start Feelin' Great!"

Walk Well

Water Walking

Young at Heart

Part II: Resources

American Council on Exercise (ACE)

Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA)

Amateur Athletic Union - Presidential Sports Award

American Senior Fitness Association (SFA)

Arthritis Foundation YMCA Aquatic Program (AFYAP/PLUS)

Associations & Organizations Offering Senior Sports Opportunities

Associations & Organizations Offering Support Materials For Senior Fitness

Body Recall, Inc.

Collage Video Guide

Companies Offering Products or Resources for Senior Fitness

Creative Walking, Inc.

Fitness Educators of Older Adults Association (FEOAA)

IDEA Educational Products Catalog

Jazzercise, Inc.

National Senior Health & Fitness Day (NSHFD)

Senior Fitness Consultants

Senior Fitness Videos & Books

U.S. Water Fitness Association (USWFA)

About the Editor and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association

Audiences

Reference for program directors, administrators, activity directors, fitness instructors, park and recreation directors, recreational therapists, rehabilitation professionals, and others who work with seniors.

Fitness consultant Lynn Allen is the president of Heartland Fitness in Lawrence, Kansas. During her career, she has designed exercise programs for some of the world's most powerful people, managed corporate fitness centers, designed exercise machines, and planned exercise rooms for homes and institutions. Allen's most famous clients were President and Mrs. Clinton, for whom she designed individual exercise programs and an exercise room in the White House. In addition, she has conducted fitness clinics for the U.S. military, the Australian military, and the Singapore Army.

Allen worked for Universal Gym Equipment from 1981 to 1991. As national director of sales and education, she developed a certification program for trainers and traveled the world instructing fitness professionals. From 1986 to 1991, Allen worked as a clinician and instructor on behalf of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. A founding member of the Iowa Youth Fitness Task Force, she served on the Iowa Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 1994 to 1996.

A former adjunct faculty member at both the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa, Allen now serves as an advisor to the Fitness Products Council of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA). She earned her bachelor's degree in recreation education with emphasis in corporate fitness from the University of Iowa in 1981. She currently lives in Lawrence, Kansas with her husband, Terry, daughter, Angela, and son, Chase.

The SGMA comprises 14 nonprofit associations, councils, and committees that share a common goal of preserving and advancing recreational sports in the United States. Founded in 1906, it works to increase amateur sports participation.

SGMA owns THE SUPER SHOW (r), the world's largest trade show of sporting goods equipment, apparel, and accessories. Proceeds from THE SUPER SHOW support a host of national and local nonprofit sports organizations and programs. These funds are also used to sponsor many surveys and educational initiatives to benefit recreational sports.