Fall Prevention Exercises For Seniors - Physical Activities To Improve Balance In The Elderly

Fall prevention exercises for seniors are necessary not only for their health and well-being but also for keeping their balance on their feet. Over the years there is the general misconception that exercise is not for the elderly because of their age but many studies have proven that exercise particularly fall prevention exercises for seniors improve balance so that they can minimize the risk of falling.

With the high statistics of seniors falling, it is essential that a senior should never experience falls in the first place, hence there is a need in the elderly to perform fall prevention exercises for seniors because lack of balance has been pointed at as one of the reasons why an elderly falls. It is important to prevent seniors from falling because statistics show that after a fall there is a considerable decline in their health.

Here are 4 simple exercises that a senior can do to prevent falls from happening as well as keep them in tip-top shape. It is important that in doing these exercises regularly they are done slowly, not holding the breath, stopping if pain is felt.

Walking

It is a simple exercise that a senior can really benefit from as this increases the blood circulation.

Calf Exercise

This is a great exercise for strengthening the calves and preventing falls but before starting prepare the following should be prepared: a chair or a table. The senior will hold on to this for support.

While holding on to the chair or the table, he or she starts by standing with her feet flat on the ground then tries to slowly stand on tiptoes and hold this pose for 15 to 30 seconds then slowly return to the starting pose. Take a rest for 5 seconds then repeat the whole process for 8 to 15 counts. He can gradually increase the time for holding the pose to a full minute once he gets used to this.

Chair Squats

This next item in our list of fall prevention exercises for seniors is another easy exercise that will strengthen the legs and hips. This exercise is begun by sitting on a chair, leaning slightly forward then standing up.

It is best that the senior doesn't favor one side or uses his or her hands to assist them in standing up however if this is not possible, holding on to the arm rests should be done.

Sit and Reach

This is good for strengthening the core muscles to improve balance. Start by sitting on a chair with the feet flat on the floor.

The arms should be held straight in front then slowly imagine reaching for something forward with the hips. Hold this pose and then return to the starting position.

Before doing these fall prevention exercises for seniors it is important that he or she consult his or her doctor to determine what type of exercise is good for him and how often he should do the exercise. For instance if the senior has chronic arthritis he or she should ask the doctor how to safely exercise despite his condition.

For seniors who have trouble with balance, Walkers With Wheels are great devices that they can use to help them move about plus they are also great for support when seniors want to perform walking exercises because they can just push it like you would a shopping cart. If you're interested in buying walkers Hugo Walkers will provide you with top of the line products as mobility aids.

3 Physical Therapy Exercises You Should Try

Until I was seriously injured, I never gave a thought to what constituted physical therapy. There were enough other active things I enjoyed doing that were more important to me. However, now that I have experienced both the need for PT and the many benefits it provides, I think it's important to share what I've learned with you.

Before I get into the exercises, let me point out that all of these are either no impact or low impact. This is great if you have arthritis, if you're recuperating from an injury or if you want to make sure that your joints are well protected.

1) Walking/running in water: This does several things. It builds up strength in your legs, so that your muscles can help the ligaments and tendons. Water provides resistance, so that you are actually doing more of a workout than regular walking or running. While it is doing all of that, you are protected from the impact, making it less painful and less likely to cause harm.

2) Aquatic Weight Lifting: I had never heard of this before, but the results are spectacular. These are made of styrofoam. Our gym has two sizes, though there may be locations with more. This is for arm and core body strength. You hold one in each hand, then raise and lower your arms straight out from your sides. Once you've done ten of those, you pull them in front of you and push them in and out. The last step is to put your arms together, straight out in front of you. Then, with the weights under water, turn from side to side so that your arms come as close to ninety degrees as they will go. Believe me, you will feel it later if you don't have much upper body strength.

3) Leg Lifts: You can do this in the pool or at home. In the pool, follow the same pattern as for your arms (though you won't need the weights). At home, lie on your back and lift both legs up a few inches. Hold for at least three seconds, then lay them back down. You can also do reps with just one leg, then the other. This exercise is very beneficial if you are dealing with knee problems.

Physical therapy exercises may be very beneficial to you, but it is always a good idea to speak with your doctor before beginning any exercise program. This will help you prevent injuries that could side line your workout routine.

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Why Weight Lifting is a Physical Activity That Delivers Top Health Benefits

When most people think of weight lifters, they think of cultural icons like The Rock or Arnold Schwarzenegger: Huge, muscular men that spend all day in the gym. And when most people think of exercise, that is the exact opposite of what they want.

However, I am going to talk to you today of why I think more people should use weight training as their main form of physical activity, as the benefits are enormous.

Increased Bone Density

Weight lifting will increase your bone density and help prevent problems like osteoporosis or stress fractures.

A lot of people think that running is the best exercise to increase bone density, but this is not necessarily the case. In fact, as an aerobic activity, running actually promotes muscle breakdown, while weight lifting, being an anabolic process, promotes the building of muscle tissue.

Because of this, weight lifting is far better at conserving your bone density, as well as having far less impact on your body than running.

Fewer Injuries

When you weight lift, your muscles are getting stronger, and you're working the ligaments and tendons that connect muscles, bones and other tissues. This reduces the possibility of injury while participating in of physical activity.

Those of you who have been injured before know disheartening it can be. The fact is, more than 75% of injuries are a direct result of a tendon, ligament or muscle being too weak when a stressful force is applied. Since weight lifting works all of those ligaments and tendons, it's one of the best injury preventions out there.

Reduced Health Related Risks

Studies have shown that consistent weight lifting can have a beneficial effect on health by reducing the rate of insulin resistance, blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. A strong weight training program along with a healthy diet is a big step in avoiding some of these problems.

Reduced Fat Gain

As you weight train more often, your metabolic rate will rise, and you will be able to eat more while maintaining your weight. If that doesn't motivate you to use weight training to help shed those pounds, I don't know what will.

That being said, one common misconception people have is that weight training will make you big and bulky. That is not the case at all. Let's make a comparison to help us understand how this works.

Say you have two teams, and each are going to build a house using the exact same method. Team one is given 5,000 bricks to work with, while team two has only 500 bricks.

Who do you think will build a bigger house? Clearly, team one, as they have been supplied with more materials. Now think of those bricks as the calories that you consume on a daily basic. Unless you eat a lot of calories, you aren't going to build big, bulky muscles. This is exactly why bodybuilders look the way they do.

It has much more to do with what they eat than with how they train. In order to sustain the kind of growth needed for this kind of muscle you would need to eat like a teenage boy.

You need raw materials to build a house, and you need raw materials to build your muscles. If you control your diet, you will not develop large, bulky muscles from weight training.

Instead, you will burn more fat, reduce your chances of injury, and develop a strong, slim body. Choosing to exclude weight training from your workout plan is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Don't pass up these long-term health benefits any longer.

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4 Tips For Improving Your Physical Appearance and Athletic Performance

Many people initially enter the gym with the thought of training so that they can look better and be healthier. After their initial gains, they may soon discover that the two goals (looking better and being healthier) are not always related. Sometimes, behaviors that lead to looking better and better (or performing at higher and higher levels) will lead to diminished health. Let's learn more!

Appearance

If you train for looks, then a few factors need to be considered. You seek greater muscle mass and lower body fat. You want to intake as much protein as possible, and train with weights for 3 to 5 hours per week. Cardiovascular training should be limited to 4 sessions per week of 20 to 35 minutes. You will want to focus on skin tone, tan, and other aspects, but your number one goal will be to add muscle! The use of performance enhancing supplements will come in to play in the early years, and steroids may be used down the road as you reach your natural potential for growth.

Performance

Training for performance can be completely different. Powerlifters will pile on the fatty foods each day in order to gain weight so that they can move the most possible weight. They aren't concerned with how they look or if they are healthy - the number of pounds they move is the only factor that concerns them. Some of the fattest and more uncomfortable people are able to lift the most weight in the world. A trade-off is certainly present there.

Health

People who train for health will often fall way short of their appearance and performance training brethren. They won't want to burden their central nervous system with hours of heavy weight training, so they aren't going to add any appreciable muscle mass. And since they are concerned about their joint health, there is no way they are going to want to load up 400 pounds on the bar for maximum weight squats. So you can toss those powerlifting goals right out the window!

Finding a balance

The top bodybuilders in the world are very much not healthy. The top runners in the world have poor knee health. The top powerlifters in the world are obese with high blood pressure in the world. But the top 'healthy' physiques in the world sure aren't packing that much muscle, either! The key to success in looking better, training better, and performing better is to determine your goals as early as possible. It may end up becoming a mix of these three exclusive elements. But you will need to decide which of them will be your primary focus.

Once you make that decision, your task will be to train with that end in mind, while at the same time keeping an eye on the other two factors. If you're training for health, then it's okay to use a few supplements or push yourself to lift more. If you're training for performance, it's good to watch what you eat and keep an eye on your midsection. Avoid extremes and your results will be positive and well balanced!

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.