  Background. There are many factors that can make of group exercises a
challenging setting for older adults. A major one in the elderly population is
the difference in the level of skills. In this paper we report on the physical,
psychological and social wellbeing outcomes of a novel virtual gym that enables
online group-exercises in older adults with different levels of skills.
  Methods. A total of 37 older adults (65-87 years old) followed a personalized
exercise program based on the OTAGO program for fall prevention, for a period
of eight weeks. Participants could join online group exercises using a
tablet-based application. Participants were assigned either to a Control group
(individual training) or Social group (online group-exercising). Pre- and post-
measurements were taken to analyze the physical, psychological and social
wellbeing outcomes. The study received ethical approval from the CREATE-NET
Ethics Committee on ICT Research Involving Human Beings (Application N.
2014-001).
  Results. There were improvements in both the Social and Control groups in
terms of physical outcomes. Interestingly though, while in the Control group
fitter individuals tended to adhere more to the training, this was not the case
for the Social group, where the initial level had no effect on adherence. For
psychological and social wellbeing outcomes there were improvements on both
groups, regardless of the application used.
  Conclusion. Group exercising in a virtual gym can be effective in motivating
and enabling individuals who are less fit to train as much as fitter
individuals. This not only indicates the feasibility of training together
despite differences in physical skills but also suggests that online exercise
can reduce the effect of skills on adherence in a social context. Longer term
interventions with more participants are instead recommended to assess impacts
on wellbeing.
