How can I tell if an exercise class is helping to improve balance and strength?

Many exercise classes designed to prevent falls include some basic tests that instructors ask the class to perform periodically to measure changes in balance and strength.

In Twin Falls, Idaho, for example, Elvia Caldera, a health education specialist and injury prevention coordinator, has built into her "Fit and Fall Proof" exercise program a standard test used by doctors that times how long it takes someone to get up from a chair, walk across the room, turn around, and come back. The better someone's balance is and the stronger her legs are, the less time it takes that person to perform the test. "We do the test at the beginning and end of a six-week class," says Caldera, who works for South Central District Health, a nonprofit organization in Twin Falls. "Some class members decrease their time by at least 10 percent."

The "Fit and Fall Proof" program offers half-hour and hour-long classes and has class members use stretchy bands to create resistance in a number of sitting and standing exercises such as leg lifts and bicep curls. Bertha Whitehead, an 88-year-old participant who uses a cane to walk and has a neighbor help her with the class, was skeptical about joining at first. "I was wondering if I really could do the exercises. I think I'm walking better now. I can do the knee bends more easily and get up and down from a chair more easily," she says.

Whatever exercise class a participant chooses, the instructor's approach is key, says Whitehead, who's taken her exercise class for a year. "Our teachers will go out of their way to help someone who's new, and they take people's handicaps into consideration." On top of that, says Whitehead, "I enjoy the class, they're a good bunch of people."