Translating 3-Step Workout for Life in a Local Senior Living Community

The 3-Step Workout for Life program is designed to help older adults improve muscle strength and apply the improved muscle strength to perform activities of daily living. The 10-week workout consists of single-joint resistance exercise, multiple-joint resistance exercise, and activities of daily living exercise. Participants will exercise in small groups in a community room as well as one-on-one with the fitness staff in their home. The community fitness staff will learn the 3-Step Workout for Life program from the University partner and deliver the program.

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 60 years old and above
• Residents of the local study community
• Communicable in English
• Took more than 16 seconds to complete five chair stands with arms crossed at the chest.
• Self-reported difficulty in performing one or more activities of daily living, which must include difficulty in feeding/eating, dressing, grooming/personal hygiene, bathing/showering, using the toilet, or functional mobility/transfer.

Exclusion criteria

• Aged above 90 years old.
• Unwilling to commit to the study program 3 sessions per week for 10 weeks.
• Plan to move away from the current community in 6 months.
• Having three or more errors on a six-item cognitive impairment screener.
• Having any terminal illness, cardiovascular, neurological, psychiatric, orthopedic, or cognitive impairments that are contraindications to participating in an exercise program.
• The difficulty of performing activities of daily living is due to neurological disorders (e.g., stroke, Parkinson's), orthopedic conditions (e.g, amputees), or sensory deficits (diabetic palsy, low vision).
• Physician's recommendation of no moderate physical exercise.
• Receiving home health rehabilitation therapy or exercise at moderate intensity for more than twice a week (last more than 20 minutes each time).