A Lifetime of Lessons: Crafting Inclusive Resistance Band Workouts for Jim & Ellen

Let’s picture Jim and Ellen.

Jim is strong and fit, a lifelong mover and doer. He loves to stay active, even at 75 years old, but has a lingering knee issue from years of playing football. His wife of 53 years, Ellen, is recovering from a frozen shoulder injury. Her mobility is gradually improving, but she still needs to avoid pushing too hard too fast, especially with overhead or stretching movements.

Sound familiar? If you’re an older adult fitness instructor, no doubt you’ve got participants like this across your classes. I’ve had thousands!

But imagine they both turn up to your strength training class together, ready to work hard. How do you make the workout safe, challenging, and inclusive for both?

My go-to solution: Resistance bands.

Resistance bands offer unmatched versatility. They let participants adjust resistance levels quickly simply by changing the hand or foot position, making the same movement easier or harder depending on the day and how they are feeling.

Your first exercise of the resistance round, and you can see you’re going to have to adapt it for both Jim and Ellen! It happens all the time.

To keep the move safe and comfortable for Jim while still giving him a good challenge:

• Start with a shallower side lunge range and, if needed, have him hold onto a chair for balance.

• Offer the option of switching to a shallow squat to distribute load evenly across both knees.

• Reduce band tension to allow him to focus on good technique rather than compensating for pain.

• Encourage a wide step and a full range of motion on his “good” knee side.

• Keep movements smooth and controlled to avoid sudden strain.

To keep building Ellen’s shoulder mobility without causing discomfort:

• Remind her to lift the arm only as high as is comfortable overhead.

• Loosen the band tension to minimise pressure on the affected shoulder joint.

• Offer the option to reach across the body instead of overhead until more strength returns.

• Gradually increase both range and resistance as her mobility improves.

• Encourage her to reach and stretch high with her “good” arm to keep that side strong and mobile.

By making these adjustments—and it only takes an instant when you’re working with resistance bands—Jim and Ellen can both participate fully in the workout, exercising at their own safe intensity while still moving together as part of the group.

In any older adult class, especially with mixed abilities, we always need to present adjustments clearly and positively — empowering participants to choose their challenge level.

1. Offer clear options: “If that side lunge feels too deep, try a smaller step to the side, or hold on to support for balance.”

2. Explain the 'why': “This lighter resistance helps protect your knee while still strengthening the muscles.”

3. Encourage listening to the body: “It’s okay to take it slower or skip the overhead reach today. We don't want to aggravate anything.”

4. Provide progressions: “When you’re ready, try bringing the hands closer together on the band for more resistance.”

By setting this tone, you help all participants feel confident adapting moves to their ability and energy level, keeping them engaged and motivated.

Teaching multiple versions of a resistance band exercise is challenging — and so is correcting technique on those variations without disrupting the class flow.

How I respond in those moments depends a lot on the relationship I have with the participant. If Ellen has been coming every week for ten years, I know I can say with a smile, “Ellen, ease off that band and drop your shoulder for me,” and she’ll take it in the right spirit. But if she’s new to class, I’m more careful — I don’t want her to feel self‑conscious about adjusting her resistance or performing a different variation before we’ve built that trust.

If I notice Ellen’s shoulder creeping up because the band tension is too tight, with a new participant I’ll address the whole class instead: “Take a moment to reset your posture, everyone — drop those shoulders away from your ears, keep them relaxed, and remember to ease off the band if you feel yourself tensing up.” Chances are, she’s not the only one doing it, and this way she doesn’t feel singled out. If her shoulder still rises, I’ll catch her eye and give a small nod or gesture to prompt the correction subtly, keeping it supportive and positive.

That’s another great reason for bands — participants don’t have to draw attention to themselves as they cross the room to get a lighter set of weights when the exercise is too hard; they can adapt in the moment, just as the instructor can too.

With older adults like Jim and Ellen in my classes, I’ve found resistance bands to be the most practical and versatile tool I can pull out of my toolkit. Jim can increase the tension on his shallow lunge, so he’s getting a great upper body workout while his knee stays relatively pain-free; Ellen eases off the tension and adapts to forward movements, so she’s still strengthening safely. They’re both doing the “same” exercise, just scaled perfectly for their bodies at that moment.

For my participants, resistance band training means they can adapt instantly, keep moving, stay confident, and feel included. For me as an instructor, it means I only need one piece of equipment that works for every level and limitation in the room. I can keep the class flowing smoothly, make real-time tweaks as I spot compensations, and know that everyone is working at a safe, effective intensity.

That’s why bands are my favourite — I can have Jim and Ellen training together, both with distinctive goals, but each getting exactly what they need from the same workout.

If you want the skills, strategies, and confidence to make those adaptations second nature like I have, our Complete Resistance Bands for Older Adults course will give you the tools, progressions, and inclusive teaching techniques you need. I encourage you to invest in yourself, invest in your participants — and create truly inclusive classes where everyone thrives.

"A Lifetime of Lessons" is by Carol Edmeades, a passionate fitness instructor who has been teaching resistance band workouts to older adults for decades. She knows how to make it work for people of every age and ability, while still making workouts fun and inclusive every single time.