You have to go off balance to practice balance.
In other words, when you teeter and wobble during balance practice and then catch yourself, you are actually strengthening your balance reflexes.
By practicing our balance with this video, we hope to sharpen muscle memory so that it will kick in and help us prevent a nasty fall!
As we age, it is so important to become more aware of our balance as well as our surroundings.
We can increase our focus on balance by paying attention to the surface we are walking on, looking ahead and left and right of our us for possible distractions, and working on personal challenges that diminish balance such as flexibility, core strength, eyesight, and hearing.
The American College Of Sports Medicine, or ACSM, has begun recommending balance practice 2 to 3 times a week for 20 minutes each session for seniors.
This is all in an effort to reduce the number of falls occurring in seniors as we continue to age.
It is strongly suggested that we mix up the routines we do with variety and a mixture of difficulty levels (our balance video library is a great resource for this!).
Because falls are the leading cause of injuries and injury-related deaths in people over 65 and account for 95% of hip fractures, balance practice is something we must make time for.
It is encouraging to know that age related changes in balance can be slowed down or even reversed with practice.
So let’s get practicing!
HERE’S TO FEELING GOOD!
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