Fallproof! A Comprehensive Balance and Mobility Training Program

This book is a great resource for any personal trainers or other fitness professionals working with a senior population. If you work with older adults, you know that one issue that comes up regularly is lack of balance and a fear of falling. While a college education and the studying required to get a personal training certification (or other fitness certification) usually adequately covers how to design programs as far as cardiovascular and strength training go, training for balance is rarely ever mentioned.Fallproof! does an excellent job of first explaining the science behind balance and why people fall, followed by a section on assessing balance, then progressing to how to train to improve balance, followed by sections on strength training and flexibility, and finally wrapping up with how to instruct the material presented and ideas on class management. The information provided is very well presented and very useful. The book provides a progression of exercises which can be used with your clients, with several variables which can be manipulated to provide the client with the right amount of difficulty. The descriptions also include coaching cues to help instruct the client in the best possible way. The balance assessment described in the book is fairly easy and not too time consuming, while also being very effective and testing all facets of balance. The sections on strength and flexibility are good but for the most part won't be anything new for the fitness professional. Lastly, I'd like to mention that the Fallproof! program is designed to be used in a small class environment. While the concepts transfer well to one on one sessions (with the exception of the fact that most of the culminating activities are group activities), I haven't and don't think I will transfer much into large group exercise classes as the activities here require a greater amount of individualized attention than large group exercise classes allow.Lastly, there is the included DVD. The DVD includes an example of administering the assessment which is quite helpful, demonstrations of some of the exercises discussed in the book, and a sample class. The DVD is good but I wish it had more. There was more than one occasion that I read something in the book, wanted to see it in action and put in the DVD, only to find out that what I wanted to see wasn't included in the DVD. The other complaint about the DVD is a technical one, I don't like that each section of the DVD isn't broken up into chapter (for example each test of the assessment being a separate chapter), combined with the fact that, at least on my computer, it won't let me manually skip ahead so I need to watch the entire section. But this may be a weird computer thing as much as it is anything with the DVD. What is included on the DVD is excellent, I only wish it had more because what is there is so helpful.If you work with older adults, this book should be in your collection. If your idea of working on balance is standing on one leg for 10 seconds and repeating a few times, you will gain so much from this book. Balance is a more complicated science than you probably realize and understanding it will help you immensely to improve the balance of your clients, class members, or whatever environment you may be working with older adults in.

This was a very informative and easy to understand book that addressed the issues of the causes of falls, the physiological systems involved in balance and mobility (sensory: vision,somatosensory, and vestibular etc). It also prescribed methods for screening and assessing the needs of older adults to prevent them from having catastrophic falls. The book contained several chapters that addressed how to train specific systems that included: center of gravity control, multisensory, postural strategy, gait pattern, strength & endurance and flexibility training. The book concluded with a section on how to plan and manage a fall prevention class for senior citizens. I would highly recommend this book to any health care professional or other individuals involved in training senior citizens.Ernie Keith

I love this book as it is research based but written such that it is very easy to understand and the information is very practical. Not only are there multiple tools for learning the information in the text but there is also a DVD that is included so you can actually watch the exercises and tests being demonstrated. This will be very useful to begin to teach falls prevention and mobility classes once I complete the second practical part of this course. There is one big disappointment for me though. I did not know that there was a code included so we could access an online site which will provide computer generated test results and other resources. I discarded the wrapping on the book that had a code on it and now I cannot access the website and it costs $100.00 for a subscription to the site. So, if anyone knows how I can get the code that came with my book, I would really appreciate knowing how to access this information, since I did pay for a new book and should have had this information. It is not clear when you order the book that this information is included and that it is important to keep the wrapper and the code.

The author put a tremendous amount of research and practical application to this textbook. I have read many books on balance, but this one is definitely the most comprehensive. I have already used many of the exercises when I teach arthritis/balance and fall prevention to my classes at senior centers. The multi-sensory exercises are very effective and fun at the same time. Very highly recommended program!

I am a personal trainer, specializing in working with older adults. With this population, training for balance is just as critical as training for strength. I like the way this book breaks down the different components of balance and explains some of the underlying physiology behind different exercises. I have included many of the exercises into my personal training sessions and my older adult fitness classes.

This book is probably very good to those who work with or in the profession of P.T. I found it to be much more [info] than I needed. So I returned it and still looking for proper home exercises to prevent falls.

this text is a great compliment to my education in senior citizen fitness.Includes theory and practical activities for daily living enhancement. I am already yellow highlighting a chapter!!

The content was very basic. I was hoping to get more ideas for interventions that were accompanied with evidence. Most of book was review information about falls not the prevention.

Reçu rapidement (2 jours). Livre relié, solide. Belle banque d'information.

Easy read. Lots of great suggestions. DVD provides visual examples of how to instruct and teach.