Dan Ritchie

Dan Ritchie, PhD, is the Co-Founder and President of Functional Aging Institute and also owner of Miracles Fitness in Indiana. Dan has a broad background in the fitness industry including training and management in commercial and university/hospital-based fitness, for-profit, not-for-profit and educational facilities. His primary areas of expertise are in personal training for special populations: the athletes, pregnancy, blind, stroke recovery, Parkinsons, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Fibromyalgia, Alzheimers, etc. Dan was the winner of the 2014 PFP Trainer of the Year.
Dual-Tasking: Lower Body Strength and Balance
BY Dan Ritchie
May 12 2025
If you want to make a simple balance exercise more complex, just add a little cognitive challenge. Now this becomes a more challenging balance task, but adds a cognitive element... View More
Lunging and School Bus Driving
BY Dan Ritchie
April 9 2025
Dual-task training is the number one way to train brain/cognitive fitness... View More
Why Train Seniors?
BY Dan Ritchie
March 11 2025
These are the clients with the most need, the most spending power and often the most available time to be great consistent clients!... View More
Standing Lat Pulldown
BY Dan Ritchie
Feb. 12 2025
We always stress training on your feet whenever possible! So here is a standing lat pull down on a cable column... View More
Full-Body Functional Circuit Workout
BY Dan Ritchie
Jan. 8 2025
Dr. Cody Sipe takes me through a full-body workout for a Level 2 client. Think of a Level 2 client as an advanced beginner, or lower fitness level... View More
Functional Metabolic Circuits
BY Dan Ritchie
Dec. 10 2024
Sometimes you just need a fast simple workout that can be as short as 8 minutes or as long as 20 minutes.Keep it simple with just 3-4 exercises that you repeat as many rounds as you can... View More
Gait Performance Enhancement
BY Dan Ritchie
Nov. 12 2024
When training dynamic balance we like to use a wide range of exercises to force people to change their gait. This is also called Gait Performance Enhancement... View More
Functional Metabolic Circuit or Finisher
BY Dan Ritchie
Oct. 9 2024
Use this exercise circuit as a 3-minute finisher at the end of your workouts, or you can use it as a full 20-minute workout. It's really simple — just 4 exercises in total... View More
Dual-Task Training: Using the Squat Pattern While Training Your Brain
BY Dan Ritchie
Sept. 3 2024
In this video with Dawn the basic movement pattern is the squat, but we will add some more dual-task sequences to add challenges to work brain health as we train... View More
Train Your Clients for What They Like to Do and Want to Do in Life
BY Dan Ritchie
Aug. 6 2024
Think and talk less about fitness and communicate more about what people want and dream for their lives... View More
Balance, Reaction Time and Cognitive Speed Drills
BY Dan Ritchie
July 9 2024
Again, we have a series of balance and reaction time drills that will not only challenge our clients' balance system but their cognitive system as well... View More
The Hierarchy of Physical Function
BY Dan Ritchie
June 12 2024
What are you currently doing to prevent the frailty progression?... View More
Front Plank Variations
BY Dan Ritchie
May 13 2024
So while the front plank is useful, why don't you try a few more variations — the combinations really become endless... View More
Hurdler Warm-Up Exercise
BY Dan Ritchie
April 10 2024
The Hurdler warm up exercise is great for static balance on top of warming up our hips for activity... View More
Jumping Jacks 6 Ways
BY Dan Ritchie
March 12 2024
Jumping jacks can be a great warmup exercise, or simply a great transition exercise to get clients heart rate elevated.There are endless combinations and here we show just six varieties... View More
At-Home Balance Drills
BY Dan Ritchie
Feb. 12 2024
Winter is a great time to create extra at-home drills for your clients... View More
Balance Training Combined with Dual-Task Training for Cognitive Fitness
BY Dan Ritchie
Jan. 9 2024
This exercise is a simple march in place — a simple exercise for most, but it can challenge balance as it prolongs our single leg stance since our foot is off the ground a little longer than normal
Training Your Clients for What They Like to Do and Want to Do in Life
BY Dan Ritchie
Jan. 5 2024
At Functional Aging Institute (FAI), we talk all the time about training your clients for ‘need to do,’ ‘like to do,’ and ‘want to do’ activities... View More
Train Your Mature Clients Towards their Dreams
BY Dan Ritchie
June 27 2023
When clients say they are now doing things they haven’t done in years or never even dreamed possible, you know you are changing lives!... View More
Power Training: Important for Maintaining Function as We Age
BY Dan Ritchie
April 17 2023
Personal training has evolved beyond sets and reps. We’re learning more and more that strength is just one component of our program design... View More
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