Course description

Strength, balance and flexibility help you keep doing the things that matter: getting up from a chair, climbing the stairs, carrying the shopping and walking to the shops with confidence. This course shows you how to build them safely at home, with nothing more than a sturdy chair and your kitchen counter, starting from wherever you are today.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 56 written lessons, and every exercise is described step by step, with easier and harder versions and safe setup. You follow Valerie, 72, a retired school cook in Rochdale with a sore knee, from the fall on her hall rug in January through 12 weeks of seated, standing and balance sessions and walks with her neighbour. Alongside her, Zafar supports his father Bashir, 80, after a hip replacement and a slip in the shower. Every section has a large-print practice pack with exercise cards, session cards, record sheets, checklists and simple drawings of safe setups.

What you'll learn

• Getting started safely: the UK activity guidelines for older adults in plain words, when to check with your GP or physiotherapist first, the warning signs to stop, setting up a safe space, and three simple checks you can repeat.
• Exercising safely and well: how hard to work, a gentle warm-up and cool-down, breathing and posture, repetitions and sets, and the difference between normal aches and pain that means stop.
• Chair-based exercises: seated mobility, leg and arm strength, the sit to stand in full, and a complete 20-minute seated session.
• Standing strength with support: standing safely at the kitchen counter, mini squats, heel raises, leg lifts, wall press-ups, step-ups on the bottom stair, and a standing session of about 25 minutes.
• Balance with safe support: how balance works, the balance ladder from two hands to fingertips, moving balance, everyday moves like turning and reaching, and how to make it harder safely.
• Falls prevention and what to do after a fall: why falls happen, a room-by-room home check, eyes, feet and medicines, getting down to the floor and up again, what to do if you fall and when not to get up, personal alarms and falls services.
• Mobility, flexibility and walking: safe stretching for legs, back, shoulders and neck, walking for health, building up your walking, and walking safely outdoors in all seasons.
• Pacing and common health conditions: pacing, and staying active with arthritis, osteoporosis, heart and lung conditions, a hip or knee replacement and other conditions, in general terms, with clear signposting to your GP or physiotherapist.
• For carers: doing with, not doing for, where to stand and why never to lift, adapting exercise for someone with dementia or low confidence, what to do if they fall, and looking after yourself.
• Your weekly plan and keeping going: building your own weekly plan, four sample plans, a 12-week review, spotting the problems in a first draft plan, and keeping going for life.

Who it's for

People over 60 who want to stay strong, steady and independent at home, whether you're starting from very little activity, have had a fall or feel unsteady, or are already fairly active and want a plan. It's also for carers, family and friends who support someone, with a whole section written for them. The course follows NHS and UK guidance and gives general information, not medical advice: if you have a health condition, have had a recent operation or a fall, or aren't sure the exercises suit you, talk to your GP or a physiotherapist before you start. Everyone in the course is fictional.

What will I learn?

• Understand the UK activity guidelines for older adults and what they look like in a real week
• Set up a safe space at home, know the warning signs to stop, and know when to check with a GP or physiotherapist first
• Do a full seated strength session and a standing session at the kitchen counter, with easier and harder versions
• Build your balance step by step with safe support, using the balance ladder and everyday moves
• Make your home safer, practise getting down to the floor and up, and know what to do if you fall
• Stretch safely and build up your walking, indoors and outdoors, in all seasons
• Pace your activity and adapt it for arthritis, osteoporosis, heart and lung conditions and joint replacements, in general terms
• Support someone else to stay active safely as a carer, and write a weekly plan you can keep going for life

Frequently asked questions