Group Fitness Classes in the Greater
Rochester Area
When we started Thrive Physical Therapy, our goal was to bring skilled physical therapists together with aging adults who wanted to receive outpatient, in-home physical therapy services to improve movement and stay active. In addition to physical therapy sessions to address specific diagnoses or concerns, we strive to promote the importance of exercise and movement as part of an ongoing healthy lifestyle by offering group fitness classes in the Greater Rochester area with the goal of creating a community of “Thrivers.”
Our classes are designed and taught by licensed health care professionals who have experience in helping people learn to live well alongside a wide variety of health conditions. Regular participation in our classes can help you improve your well-being while also preventing and managing chronic conditions. You can be confident that you’ll feel safe, supported, and encouraged in our classes, which are always evidence-based and taught by experts.
Our Certified Brain Health Trainer
Group fitness classes from Thrive Physical Therapy are geared toward helping aging adults maintain and improve both physical and cognitive health and function. The Brain Health Trainer certification is based on cutting edge research that shows that the addition of physical training to a cognitive training program significantly improves results. In short, the best workout for your brain will include moving your body too. We are excited to offer dynamic group exercise programming designed and led by a Certified Brain Health Trainer.
What Types of Group Fitness Classes do You Offer?
Our physical therapists offer a variety of classes that are safe, fun, and empowering for aging adults or other individuals with neurologic conditions. Additionally, we often create diagnosis-specific classes for senior living communities or other groups, and we’re open to creating fitness classes that are right for your group’s needs. We typically offer the following types of group classes:
Neurologic-Specific Classes
To train the body and brain for optimized aging, these classes combine exercise with brain training skills based on the science of neuroplasticity to stay mentally sharp and help you continue to move well.
Skill-Specific Classes
Great for groups of aging adults who want to learn a safe and effective exercise or fitness skill that they can continue outside of classes. As an example, our physical therapists recently taught a Nordic pole walking class, providing education about the benefit of this type of exercise and showing our group how to get the most out of Nordic pole walks. Learning these skills can be a lot of fun for the clients and the physical therapist, offering flexible and enjoyable ways to get and stay active for life.
Diagnosis-Specific Classes
Geared toward helping people with a specific diagnosis (like Parkinson’s disease or stroke) improve mobility and function. These classes rely on many of the principles used in our neurologic or skill-specific classes, but they focus on navigating the challenges of one diagnosis versus general movement and brain training.
Where do You Offer Group Fitness Classes?
Our physical therapists regularly create and promote classes that are open to aging adults in our community. We hold our classes in gyms, outdoor areas, community centers, and other spaces. We’re also happy to create customized exercise programming for senior-focused organizations and will bring our group fitness classes to you. We love helping seniors establish fitness-related communities to offer each other support and encouragement to stay healthy, happy, and moving at any age. By bringing our knowledgeable professionals to your neighborhood, we make it easy for groups of aging adults to come together regularly to enjoy being active and staying healthy.
What Can I Expect from Group Fitness Programs?
Our group programs are all about creating a community and support network while ensuring each person gets the most from the experience. We design classes that challenge our participants to improve their mobility and increase mental agility. If you have suggestions for a class or location, we would be happy to hear from you.
In this section, we would typically provide you information about our current programming, but the current times are anything but typical. In keeping with the recommendations for health and safety during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, we are limiting our group programming. Whenever possible, we are still offering fitness classes that are safe for our clients. Most recently, we held a socially-distanced, outdoor exercise course called Poles in the Park. During this class, we educated the group about using Nordic Poles to maximize the impact of a simple walk through the park. Plus, we got to safely socialize and get outdoors for a bit. A win-win!
We’ve hosted classes that have a wide array of focuses and exercise styles, but our group classes are always:
- Challenging & Empowering
- Evidence-Based & Effective
- Small & Personalized
- Designed to Help You Move Better Every Day
- Led by a Skilled Physical Therapist
Do You Offer Group Fitness Sessions for Local Organizations?
We love working with program coordinators at local community and senior centers, gyms, independent living communities, and other organizations to promote fitness and health for aging adults. We are happy to customize classes that address the needs of your populations, so if you have a group of seniors you think would benefit from group classes with one of our licensed physical therapists, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Ready to Thrive? Let’s Get Started Today!
Thrive Physical Therapy was founded on a simple idea – aging adults should have access to quality physical therapy and exercise services that minimize their stress and maximize the results that are possible with consistent, quality physical therapy programs guided by professionals. By bringing outpatient physical therapy services to your home, we make it easy for you to stay on top of your physical therapy program and achieve the goal we’re working toward together – living a thriving life today and in the future. When you’re ready, we’re here to help!

