What to expect at your first training session

The first visit is an assessment, not a workout. It lasts about 45 minutes, it happens in your home or your community's common space, and it is free. Nothing is sold to you at the door.

What we do. Your trainer starts with a conversation: your health history, recent hospital stays or surgeries, medications that might affect balance or blood pressure, any falls in the past year (including the ones that felt too minor to mention), and what you actually want to be able to do — carry groceries, manage stairs, get down to the garden, keep up with grandchildren.

Then we look at movement. Expect simple, familiar tests: standing up from a chair five times, walking a short distance at your normal pace, holding a few balance positions, and a look at how your shoulders, hips and ankles move. Nothing is timed against a stranger's score; the numbers are your baseline, to be compared only with your own future results.

We also walk the space. Loose rugs, poor lighting on stairs, a bathroom without a grab bar, the chair you struggle to get out of — these are usually easier to fix than anything about your body, and they matter just as much.

What to wear and have ready. Comfortable clothes you can move in and closed shoes with a firm sole — not slippers. Have your medication list and your physician's and physical therapist's details handy. If a family member wants to listen in, in person or on speakerphone, they are welcome.

What you get afterwards. Within a few hours you receive a written summary in plain language: what we observed, your baseline numbers, a suggested starting plan, how often we would recommend meeting, and the cost. Any family member you invite gets the same summary through their own login. If we do not think training is the right next step — if you need a physician or physical therapist first — we will say so.

There is no contract and no obligation after the assessment. Most people decide within a few days.