Finding a Stronger Foundation for Aging Well: What Foundation Training Means for Movement, Strength, and Occupational Therapy

Co-Written by Connie Colleen Wyatt, Occupational Therapist, and Holly Berard

Let’s face it: growing older doesn’t mean you have to feel like the Tin Man sans oil can. Whether you’re in your 60s, figuring out how to stay active, or in your 40s–50s, watching your parents navigate their golden years, you want approaches that make sense—especially those rooted in evidence. One approach gaining attention lately is Foundation Training, a corrective movement system that emphasizes whole-body alignment, posture, and strength from the “ground up.” 

So what is Foundation Training?

Foundation Training is a movement approach developed by Dr. Eric Goodman that focuses on correcting muscle imbalances, improving posture, and strengthening the body’s core support systems using simple, equipment-free exercises. The idea is to reconnect how the body was designed to move with how we actually move in daily life. Its core philosophy is that poor posture, repetitive seated positions, and compensatory patterns contribute to pain and dysfunction—and that those patterns can be re-trained through intentional movement and breathing. 

Here are a few key movement principles:

• Anchoring: activating muscles from your feet up to create stability against gravity;
• Decompression: using breathing and intentional postures to reduce spinal compression;
• Hip hinging: learning to move from the hips rather than the spine.  

These principles aren’t just fitness buzzwords—they align with what we know from aging research about preserving functional movement patterns and reducing pain.

Why Movement Like This Matters for Aging in Place

Occupational therapists often talk about functional strength—the ability to stand up from a chair, carry groceries, reach overhead, or get out of a car without worry. These everyday tasks rely on posture, balance, strength, and coordination. Foundation Training promotes improvements in:

• Posture and balance: key to preventing falls as we age (and no one wants to practice “gravity experiments” without a safety net).  
• Muscle strength and core stability: basic strength training has been shown to preserve muscle mass, enhance balance, and reduce chronic disease risk in older adults.  
• Movement efficiency: by retraining movement patterns, we reduce unnecessary joint stress and make everyday tasks feel easier.

And yes—strong movement patterns do matter once you’ve hit a certain age. Strength training (even gentle and bodyweight-based) helps protect against sarcopenia—the age-related loss of muscle mass—and supports independence, bone health, and even sleep quality. 

How This Ties Into Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy (OT) is all about helping people do what they want and need to do—whether it’s gardening, playing with grandchildren, or climbing stairs at home. Foundation Training can be a powerful adjunct to OT for aging clients:

• OTs can assess and tailor these movements to an individual’s unique needs, ensuring safety and modifying when necessary (especially with balance issues or arthritis).
• They can integrate movement retraining into real-world tasks—like teaching proper hip-hinge mechanics to protect the back when picking up laundry.
• OTs help clients contextualize these habits into routines that support aging in place: how to move from bed, walk around the neighborhood, or return to hobbies you love.

Rather than viewing movement as “another chore,” OT frames it as empowering participation—and Foundation Training’s emphasis on purposeful movement pairs beautifully with that mindset.

Bottom Line

Foundation Training isn’t a magic potion—but it is an accessible, evidence-aligned way to think about posture, strength, and movement. For aging adults and their families, combining this kind of intentional movement with the expertise of occupational therapy can be a key piece in the puzzle of thriving while aging in place.

C²
connie@pnwhomeforlife.com
360-770-1752

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