4 min read
What Every Wellness Director and Senior Living Leader Needs to Know
When speaking and educating wellness teams, communities, and older adults, it’s clear there is an awareness of the risks of sarcopenia and osteopenia.
Many communities actively run fall prevention programming that incorporates resistance and balance training. And yet, despite these efforts, falls remain the leading cause of injury-related death among adults aged 65 and above.
This is not due to lack of care or commitment. So, let’s talk about two lesser-known culprits: dynapenia and powerpenia, which may be quietly undermining your fall prevention efforts.
Here’s what you need to know.
The “Penias”: Four Drivers of Decline
Let’s ground ourselves in what we’re really up against. Four age-related declines—often overlapping—make up the core functional threats for older adults:
- Sarcopenia: the loss of muscle mass
- Osteopenia: the decline in bone mineral density
- Dynapenia: the loss of muscular strength
- Powerpenia: the loss of muscular power, or strength times speed
While the first two are widely acknowledged and addressed in many senior living wellness programs, the latter two are largely unknown and unexamined. Yet powerpenia may be the most important predictor of functional decline and fall risk (Fielding, 2002; Orr, 2018).
A 2024 review published in Sports Medicine – Open proposes powerpenia as a distinct biomarker of healthy aging, arguing it deserves focused attention and specific intervention. Researchers found that muscle power declines faster and earlier than either strength or mass, and is more strongly associated with functional limitations and adverse outcomes.
Despite this, fewer than 1% of recent studies investigating age-related muscle loss even measured power. This oversight in the research community is mirrored in many wellness programs. It’s time to change that.
Why Power Training Is Different — and Essential
Power isn’t just strength. It’s strength expressed quickly. It’s what allows an older adult to respond to a stumble, catch themselves, or move confidently across a busy crosswalk.
If we train only for strength, residents may gain muscle but still lack the quick reaction time needed to prevent falls. Power training, by contrast, develops both strength and speed—the split-second responsiveness that protects independence.
That’s what makes powerpenia so dangerous. It’s not always visible until it matters most. And by then, it’s too late.
Reframing the Narrative: Speed Isn’t the Enemy — Unsafe Equipment Is
Many older adults — and even wellness professionals — have long believed that moving quickly during resistance training is dangerous. And honestly? They’re not wrong, if they’re using traditional equipment.
Conventional strength machines are designed for slow, controlled lifts. At faster speeds, they introduce momentum and joint stress, which can increase injury risk—especially for older adults.
It’s not speed that’s unsafe. It’s the equipment that can’t handle speed safely.
When the right tools are in place — tools that allow precise resistance without inertia or shock loading — speed becomes not only safe, but highly beneficial. Speed is the ingredient that creates the muscular adaptation older adults need to stave off powerpenia. It’s what enables faster reaction times, improved balance recovery, and greater overall resilience in daily life.
In short, we can’t afford to avoid speed.
We must train for it: safely, intentionally, and with the right equipment.
Many residents resisted going fast at first because they’d been told for years not to. But as they learned to use the equipment, they felt confident and even powerful moving faster. It was easier on the body, and rarely did anyone feel sore or uncomfortable. That was huge for them, and for me.
WELLNESS ASSISTANT
River Landing
Precise Tools Render Precise Results
Power training isn’t the entire story, but it is a critical part. At Keiser, our STEP Program focuses on both strength and power, because older adults need both: the capacity to carry loads and the ability to move quickly. Both support daily function. Power protects it.
The challenge is that most traditional gym equipment makes safe, precise power training impossible. Weight stacks, plates, and gravity create inertia and joint stress, adding risk when you're trying to build resilience.
That’s why Keiser’s low-mass, low-inertia resistance is so transformative. With Dynamic Variable Resistance and Pure Resistance Technology™, residents can train at any speed and resistance level, without shock loading. It’s precise. It’s smooth. And it unlocks a training stimulus most older adults have never safely experienced.
At first, many of our participants were hesitant. But as they progressed, they felt empowered—not endangered—by their newfound speed and strength.
RIVER LANDING WELLNESS STAFF
The Cost of Inaction
The implications aren’t just physical. They’re financial.
The average direct medical cost for a fall-related injury exceeds $9,389 per incident (Florence et al., 2018). And that’s just the beginning. Falls increase care needs, shorten length of stay, and damage a community’s reputation.
Wellness programs that incorporate power training have proven to deliver measurable returns:
- Reduced fall risk
- Increased resident confidence and engagement
- Extended resident length of stay by an average of 2.7 years
These outcomes directly contribute to improved Net Operating Income (NOI) and long-term Return on Investment (ROI) for communities that prioritize results-based wellness.
And residents notice. As one participant in Keiser’s STEP Program shared:
I can do things easier. I feel more confident. I feel like I’m doing better on the pickleball court, and I’m not afraid of falling.
MIKE EBERLING
STEP Participant, Age 71
Power Training for Powerful Aging
Residents aren’t looking to just “stay safe.” They want to live fully — to travel, play with their grandkids, stay in their homes longer, or perform on stage. Fall prevention is the outcome. Performance longevity is the goal.
To support this, we must give residents the tools that align with their aspirations.
As ICAA’s Colin Milner said:
Before behavior change happens, individuals must experience an identity switch.
COLIN MILNER
CEO, International Council on Active Aging
That identity shift — from decline to development — is what power training supports. It reframes aging as a time of continued growth and meaningful contribution, not inevitable loss.
Your Next Step
If you’re leading wellness programs or directing operations, here’s how to move forward:
- Evaluate your programming. Are you addressing powerpenia directly?
- Assess your equipment. Can residents safely train at speed, with control? Can you capture the data that shows meaningful change?
- Empower your staff. Education builds buy-in, confidence, and shifts long-held beliefs.
- Track real progress. Go beyond participation — measure power, balance, and confidence.
- Celebrate the change. Residents want to see the numbers to prove they’re getting stronger, more powerful, and faster. That’s worth championing!
Wellness Director Courtney Bless of River Landing summed it up best:
Yes, our participants improved in power and balance. But more importantly, they reconnected with themselves. They moved with confidence. They showed up differently in daily life. That’s what this work is really about.
COURTNEY BLESS
Wellness Director, River Landing
Final Thought
If we’re truly committed to fall prevention, we have to train for what aging demands.
Power training isn’t extra—it’s essential.
This is how we move from prevention to participation, from frailty to flourishing. This is how we support the people we serve, and the goals that guide our organizations.
This is the path toward a better future.
Ready to Make the Case?
Download an Executive Summary to share with your leadership team.
ENHANCE LIVES, ATTRACT RESIDENTS
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