Spring Ahead and Don’t Fall As You Age

You probably are aware that falling down is bad, or at least generally not ideal. This is particularly true as we get older and we’re more susceptible to things like fractures and other traumatic injuries. Falls sustained by older people are a major cause of death and long-term disability and they occur with some regularity even among those who are relatively fit and healthy.

Besides declining sense of balance due to concurrent losses of visual, vestibular (the balance sense associated with the ears), and mechanoreceptive (the sense of position provided by joints and muscles) inputs to the central nervous system, older people tend to lose muscular power as they age. I’ve written previously about balance training, so I’m going to focus on power for the remainder of this article.

Power is not the same as strength, although there is a relationship between the two. Power is the rate at which work gets done – in other words, how fast you can apply your strength.

In the case of falls, older people tend to react and move more slowly, making it more difficult to respond to a loss of balance and “catch” themselves from falling.

The good news is, as with most of the physical functional losses associated with aging, the loss of power can usually be countered with exercise. Any form of exercise helps, but to really improve power, you need activity that engages quick movements.

Preventing the loss of power is easier and more effective than trying to regain what has already been lost, but with time, patience, and persistence, even significant losses can usually be reversed to some extent.

So, what type of exercises help with maintaining/building power? It’s really anything that requires quick movements (or as quick as you can manage at your current level of fitness). Sports like tennis, basketball, and soccer are all good power-builders.

The newly popular pickleball is another sport that engages muscular power and is a bit more novice-friendly and accessible than tennis.

But what if you’re not at the level of fitness, or simply don’t have an interest, to engage in sports that might build your muscle power and reaction speed?

At a relatively low level of intensity, there’s hiking and walking on surfaces with variations in level, incline, etc.. While walking on a treadmill or smooth track is somewhat helpful, having variability in the walking surface engages the nervous system and muscles to react to the changes.

A simple exercise that helps maintain and develop power is hopping. You can start by hopping in place gently on two feet and work up to hopping in place on one foot at a time (and alternating feet), then progress to hopping side to side and forward and backward. Start at a slow pace and gradually speed up as you get better at it. If you’re just starting out, do only what feels easy and comfortable. For this type of exercise, three times per week for a few minutes at a time once or twice per exercise day is a good target. If you’ve been diagnosed with severe osteoporosis or have any major problems with your ankles, knees, or hips, check with your doctor first to see if you can do this safely.

Other options for developing power include martial arts training, dancing, and aerobic dance classes such as Zumba.

Pretty much any kind of physical activity that requires you to move your limbs with some amount of speed will be beneficial in developing power. Both upper and lower body movements are helpful, but because the legs are usually more involved in catching yourself from a stumble or misstep, I recommend focusing more on them than the arms and upper body.

Again, prevention works better than trying to regain power once you’re already pretty restricted in mobility and/or have difficulties with balance. So, while falls are more common in old age, preventing the loss of power that leads to falls is really best started when you’re still young, and then continued throughout life.

Until next time…

George F. Best, D.C.