The Modern Guide to Movement Leadership: Designing Movement Experiences That Build Confidence, Choice, and Belonging
The Modern Guide to Movement Leadership for Older Adults
Designing Movement Experiences That Build Confidence, Choice, and Belonging
By Erin Eleu, founder of AGEnts of Movement
What do you want people to experience when they move with you?
Strength and balance may bring someone to a class. Feeling capable, welcomed, and connected can give them reasons to return.
This practical guide helps you become more intentional about the experiences you create with older adults—from the words you choose to the choices, challenges, and opportunities for connection you offer.
Written for fitness instructors, personal trainers, activity professionals, and community movement leaders, it brings fresh thinking into everyday practice.
Inside, you’ll find:
- Language shifts that challenge age-based assumptions and invite possibility.
- Ways to support autonomy, agency, and meaningful choice.
- Guidance for acknowledging fear and setbacks before offering encouragement or solutions.
- Ideas for building psychological safety, belonging, and personal meaning.
- A six-component approach to fall resilience, with practical considerations for physical activity.
- Questions, self-checks, and planning tools to help you rethink your next session.
Explore how to respond when someone says “I’m too old,” offer options without creating a hierarchy of ability, and use encouragement that respects the person and the situation.
You don’t need to redesign everything at once. Choose one idea, try it, listen to participants, and notice what changes.
About the author
Erin Eleu is a movement instructor, educator, and founder of AGEnts of Movement. Drawing on her work with older adults and conversations with practitioners across the healthy aging field, she helps movement leaders create experiences that support confidence, connection, and continued participation in life.
Digital guidebook. No physical book will be shipped.