The 14 adults swing balls around their waists with the effortless ease of having practiced this move many times before.

They go through a range of other exercises with the same relative comfort Monday during a Fit and Fall Proof class at the Hayden Senior Center in the Shrine Club and Event Center.

The class is hosted at least four times a week at the senior center and multiple times a week across the county in nine other locations including senior centers, libraries and other community spaces. The course is state funded, with added support from the Panhandle Health District, with the goal of keeping seniors active, healthy, moving and resistant to falls.

A handful of seniors occasionally stabilize themselves on a chair or simplify some of the exercises to stay balanced, but most bounce through the beat with ease and twist their hips around or step-step-punch into the air.

“They’re really fun!” said Kate Robertson, cook at the senior center. “They have fun doing it. And the group just gets to know each other and everyone is welcome.”

Toe-tapping classics play on a small radio like “Against the Wind,” “Kathy’s Clown,” and other hits from the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s while seniors march in place.

“You’re welcome to join us,” a senior yells from the class.

Classes are free to members of the Hayden Senior Center, and at many other locations. Some can cost a nominal fee, but the benefits are enormous.

More than 70% of participants report improvements in physical functioning for daily living and 75% report increased energy, according to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

“It does help me,” said Marco DiBiase, a student in the class. “When you get old, you have to start holding onto stuff, you know. With the classes I feel more balanced.”

DiBiase goes to Fit and Fall classes in Hayden with his wife, Erika, and to another class in Post Falls.

Erika DiBiase skied until she was 80, but for the last year she’s had some trouble with osteoporosis, so her daughter talked her into coming to the classes.

“I’m thinking about starting pickleball, too,” she said. “I love pickleball. And I played tennis for many years.”

Erika and her husband go for walks in the spring, but the winter weather makes it harder to get out and stay fit, so they go to classes.

Staying active improves muscle health, flexibility, mobility, posture, balance and blood flow, all hugely beneficial for helping seniors stay youthful and active, said the IDHW on its website.

Participants in the class are all members, including the instructor for the class, who is a volunteer through the senior center. The cost of workout equipment is covered by the Panhandle Health District. Weighted balls, resistance bands and small squishy balls are included in a little box seniors can grab, with their chair, to participate.

The curriculum is set by the instructor from a binder of hundreds of moves approved for instructors who receive training through the health district.

Sharon Clamp teaches with a few of her favorite moves, making seniors stand up, sit down, squat, kick, reach and swivel. Students can grasp their chair for balance or use it for rest, as well as seated exercises. She breaks for water a few times during the course to keep participants healthy and hydrated.

Clamp even includes a few moves to target the eyeballs, instructing students to look left and right, flexing the muscles for their vision.

“She’s trying to kill us over here,” shouts one senior as she reaches up over her shoulders.

Really, she’s doing quite the opposite.