Why FaME training influences beyond my FaME classes

FaME stands for Falls Management Exercise.

It is an evidence-based, structured strength and balance programme designed to help older adults reduce falls risk, improve confidence and stay active. It is usually delivered as a progressive programme by trained Postural Stability Instructors, often over 24 weeks.

That matters because falls prevention is not solved by throwing a few random exercises together and hoping for the best.

The content needs to be specific: Joint mobility; Stamina; Strength; Balance; Confidence; being able to get down and up again; and Progressions.

And the instructor’s eye matters.

From the outside, a strength and balance class may look fairly simple.

A few chair exercises.

A few standing exercises.

A bit of balance work.

A friendly instructor.

But a FaME-based class is much more structured than that.

Each part of the class has a purpose, and each part contributes to the bigger aim: helping people move better, feel steadier, and stay involved in everyday life.

That is why my PSI training influences far more than my formal FaME classes.

It has changed how I plan, what I notice, and how I adapt exercises for the people in front of me.

The class is busy because it has a job to do

A proper FaME-based class cannot be squeezed into 30 minutes without losing important parts of the method.

The class needs time for preparation, cardio/stamina, balance, strength, functional movement, progressions, adaptations, confidence-building, cool-down and mobility.

That may sound a lot, but older adults are not simple — well, is anyone?

People come into the room with different bodies, histories, confidence levels, medical backgrounds, fears, habits and goals.

Some are confident movers. Some are cautious.

Some want to stay seated. Some are ready to stand with support.

Others need more challenge because they are preparing for other classes, activities or everyday demands.

That is why the structure matters.

It is not just about the exercises.

It is about the person.

Preparation starts before the “hard work”

The warm-up is not simply about warming muscles and joints.

In a FaME-based approach, the warm-up also supports co-ordination, joint mobility, circulation, breathing, posture, attention, confidence and awareness of how the body feels today.

That last part is important.

Someone may come into class after a poor night’s sleep, a stressful morning, a recent illness, a vaccination reaction, or simply a lower-energy day. The warm-up gives them time to arrive in their body and notice what is true today.

How am I feeling?

Am I steadier than usual?

Do I need to work at a lower level?

Is my breathing comfortable?

Do I feel ready to progress?

Gentle and steady does not mean ineffective.

It means sensitive preparation.

For many people, that is the difference between being pushed through a class and being guided through one.

Cardio is about stamina for real life

The cardio section is not about pushing people to exhaustion.

For me, it gives the heart and lungs a further gentle challenge so the body can deliver oxygen and nutrients more efficiently and clear the by-products of working muscles.

For older adults, stamina is part of independence.

It helps with walking to the shops, managing a slope, getting across a road, walking from the car park, keeping up with family, having enough energy left when they get there — and, dare I say it, doing some housework.

So cardio is not separate from strength and balance.

It supports real life.

In my classes, I am not looking for people to be breathless and battling. I am looking for appropriate effort, good posture, safe footwork and enough challenge to build capacity over time.

That is where tools like the talk test and a modified effort scale are useful. Most of the time, I want people working at a level where they are challenged, but still in control. Often, that means keeping effort levels below 6 out of 10.

Enough challenge to make a difference. Enough control to keep moving well.

Balance is a skill, not a party trick

Balance training is not just standing on one leg and hoping for the best.

In a FaME-informed class, balance work is about learning how the body keeps itself steady. It is a dynamic, active process.

The goal is not to remove every wobble.

The goal is to improve the body’s ability to respond.

When we lightly challenge balance in the right way, the body gets better at noticing, adjusting and recovering. That is what helps people feel steadier in real life, not just in class.

Strength supports muscles, bones and confidence

Strength is already being introduced through the warm-up, cardio, balance and functional movement. But a FaME-based class also needs specific strength work.

This is where we can explain how particular exercises help strengthen muscles and support bone health.

Here, Strength is not about lifting heavier weights or “getting toned”. It helps with ordinary life: getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, carrying shopping, walking with more confidence, supporting posture, and maintaining muscle and bone strength as we age.

The key is choosing the right level of challenge.

Too easy, and the body has little reason to adapt; Too hard, and technique, breathing and confidence can suffer.

Good strength work sits in the sensible middle ground: challenging enough to matter, safe enough to repeat, and clear enough for people to understand why they are doing it.

Moving towards the floor matters too

One important part of a FaME-informed class is the opportunity to explore how far people are prepared to move towards the floor - and, where appropriate, how they get up again.

This is not about forcing anyone onto the floor.

It is about choice, confidence and stages.

For some people, the first stage may simply be leaning forwards from a chair and learning to trust their legs. For others, it may be moving from standing towards a supported kneeling position. Some may work on getting closer to the floor using a chair, step, wall or mat. Others may be ready to practise floor transfers more fully.

The value is not only physical.

It helps people understand what their body can do now, what it cannot yet do, and what might be possible with steady practice.

That knowledge matters, because uncertainty often creates fear.

A clear, staged approach can replace some of that fear with practical information.

And practice builds confidence.

The cool-down is not an afterthought

The end of class matters too.

Stretches are not just a polite way to finish.

They help bring attention back to areas that have worked, ease unnecessary tension, and maintain joint and muscle mobility.

This is also a useful time to explain why certain stretches matter.

Again, the point is not to push hard.

The point is to notice, breathe, ease and finish well.

In the final few minutes, adapted tai chi-style movement can also be a useful way to bring the class to a gentle close.

It encourages slower, softer movement with minimal effort.

The focus becomes moving smoothly, breathing easily, reducing unnecessary tension and feeling steady rather than rushed - learning how to move with control, economy and calm - a useful skill in real life.

A whole hour for an exercise class?

Yes - and with good reason.

A proper FaME-based class needs time because it is not one single thing.

When a class is shortened, something has to go. And the problem is that the missing piece may be the very part someone needs most.

A rushed warm-up may not prepare the person well.

A balance section cut short may reduce the skill-building element.

Strength work without enough attention to technique may become irrelevant.

A missing cool-down may leave people without time to settle, stretch, breathe and reflect.

So no, the hour is not padding.

The hour is the structure.

PSI training changed what I notice

Although FaME is a specific programme, my PSI training affects how I teach across all my classes.

It changes how I look at room layout, chair set-up, warm-up choices, balance progressions, use of support, confidence levels, fatigue, walking ability, turning, stepping, getting up and down, and how people recover from a wobble.

It also changes what I notice.

I am not only watching whether someone can “do the exercise”.

I am watching how they do it.

Are they holding their breath?

Are they gripping their hands?

Are they rushing?

Are they losing posture?

Are they using the chair well?

Are they working at the right level for today?

That is why FaME and PSI training have influenced my chair-based classes, standing strength and balance work, circuits-style ideas, online programmes and membership planning.

The training is not just a certificate.

It is a lens.

Making exercise accessible

The best exercise is not the hardest version.

It is the version someone can do well enough, safely enough and consistently enough to make progress.

That means offering modifications is not a side issue. It is central.

Some people may need to stay seated.

Some may want to stand with support.

Some may be ready to reduce support gradually.

Some may need more challenge to prepare for other activities or classes.

The same exercise may have a seated version, a supported standing version, a smaller range version, a slower version, a version with more balance challenge, or a version with added resistance.

That is not making it complicated for the sake of it.

That is making exercise accessible.

If people meet the basic criteria, let’s make it inclusive.

The real goal

A FaME-based approach is busy because it is doing something important.

It is helping people learn what their body can and cannot do right now.

What feels strong.

What feels stiff.

What feels uncertain.

What improves with practice.

What needs support.

What is ready for more challenge.

That knowledge builds confidence.

And confidence matters because the real goal is not just to complete an exercise class.

The real goal is to help people stay strong, steady and involved in what matters to them.