FSHP Academy
Geriatric Fitness — all lessons

Module 1: Foundations

Introduction to geriatric fitness and the specialist’s rolePhysiology of ageing: sarcopenia, dynapenia, osteopeniaAge-related conditions, multimorbidity and frailty

Module 2: Assessment & Screening

Health screening, risk stratification and medicationsFunctional fitness assessment: SFT, SPPB, TUG, gait speed, grip

Module 3: Programming

Principles of programming: FITT-VP, progression, periodisationResistance and power training for sarcopeniaCardiovascular and aerobic conditioningBalance, mobility and fall preventionFlexibility, functional mobility and ADL training

Module 4: Chronic Conditions

Cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions (HTN, CAD, HF, COPD)Metabolic conditions in older adultsMusculoskeletal: osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, joint replacementNeurological and cognitive: Parkinson’s, stroke, MS, dementia

Module 5: Coaching, Safety & Business

Nutrition, hydration and recovery for older adultsBehavioural coaching, communication and adherenceSafety, emergencies and scope of practiceBusiness, settings and career pathwaysCase studies and sample programme templates

Cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions (HTN, CAD, HF, COPD)

Exercise for older adults with hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure and COPD — evidence from cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, precautions and monitoring.

Advanced Evidence: Strong evidence 3 min read Reviewed 2026-10-31 Status: draft

Learning objectives

  • Summarise evidence for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation
  • Apply precautions for HTN, CAD, HF and COPD
  • Monitor symptoms and intensity
  • Coordinate with rehab programmes

Before this lesson

Why this matters

Cardiopulmonary conditions are common in older adults, and supervised exercise improves outcomes.

Evidence

ConditionEvidence
Coronary heart diseaseCardiac rehab reduces CV mortality and admissions [dibben2021]
Heart failureReduced hospitalisation, better QoL [long2019]
COPDPulmonary rehab improves dyspnoea and capacity [mccarthy2015]
HypertensionExercise lowers BP [pescatello2019]

Precautions

  • Clients should be stable and cleared; ideally graduate from a supervised rehab programme
  • Use RPE and dyspnoea scales; HR may be unreliable with medications
  • Long warm-ups and cool-downs
  • Interval approaches help with breathlessness (COPD)
  • Teach pursed-lip breathing

Stop signs

Chest pain, unusual breathlessness, dizziness, palpitations, swelling or rapid weight gain (HF).

Common mistakes and misconceptions

Case study

A 72-year-old completes hospital cardiac rehab after a heart attack and joins a community programme. With RPE monitoring and gradual progression, he walks 5 km comfortably after 6 months.

Further learning: video lessons

Video links are only marked “verified” after a human has watched them. Unverified entries open a YouTube search for that channel and topic rather than a guessed link.

Practical demo needs verification — opens a YouTube search

Cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions (HTN, CAD, HF, COPD)

geriatric exercise specialists and physiotherapists (search)

You will understand: cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions (htn, cad, hf, copd)

Why: Clinician-led content; verify the specific video.
Introductory needs verification — opens a YouTube search

Exercise for healthy ageing

geriatric medicine educators (search)

You will understand: why exercise matters in later life

Why: Clinical overview.

Knowledge check

Knowledge check · 0/5

1. Dibben et al. (2021) found cardiac rehab in CHD…

Answer B. Cochrane.

2. In heart failure, exercise-based rehab…

Answer B. Long et al. (2019).

3. Pulmonary rehab in COPD improves…

Answer B. McCarthy et al. (2015).

4. A warning sign to stop is…

Answer B. Stop and seek help.

5. A useful scale for COPD clients is…

Answer B. Monitor breathlessness.

Short-answer & application questions

  1. Plan a programme for a client after cardiac rehab.
  2. Teach pursed-lip breathing.
  3. Write monitoring guidelines for HF.

Key takeaways

  • Cardiac rehabilitation reduces cardiovascular mortality and hospital admissions in coronary heart disease.
  • Exercise-based rehab in heart failure reduces hospitalisation and improves quality of life.
  • Pulmonary rehabilitation improves breathlessness and exercise capacity in COPD.
  • Clients should be stable, cleared, and monitored with RPE, dyspnoea scales and symptoms.

Connected topics

metabolic health

Hypertension training guidelines

physiology

Stroke volume, heart rate and cardiac output

References

  1. Dibben G, Faulkner J, Oldridge N, et al. (2021). Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD001800. Systematic review check pending
  2. Long L, Mordi IR, Bridges C, et al. (2019). Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for adults with heart failure. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD003331. Systematic review check pending
  3. McCarthy B, Casey D, Devane D, et al. (2015). Pulmonary rehabilitation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD003793. Systematic review check pending
  4. Pescatello LS, Buchner DM, Jakicic JM, et al. (2019). Physical activity to prevent and treat hypertension: a systematic review. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 51(6):1314–1323. Systematic review check pending

Educational content only — not medical advice. Consult a qualified clinician for diagnosis or treatment.