Have you ever tripped over your own feet and fallen down?
We laugh at ourselves, feel a little silly, get up and move on with our day.
Most adults don’t concern themselves with worrying about falling down, however, for many adults over 65, falling can be disastrous. According to the CDC, each year 3 million older adults are treated in emergency rooms for fall injuries, and approximately 300,000 are hospitalized with hip fractures.
Is this a normal part of aging?
Should we expect to succumb to a fall at some point as we grow older?
Actually, no, we shouldn’t. In fact, there are plenty of things we can do NOW to help us avoid the emergency room trip THEN.
The Big Four in staying mobile as an older adult are 1.) Making sure our medicines don’t make us ill/dizzy, 2.) Getting our eyes checked, 3.) Keeping our house cleaned up and 4.) TA DA! – exercising!
Continuing to exercise throughout our lives plays a major role in our QUALITY of life later. Starting a regular fitness routine at ANY age will have a huge positive impact as we age and our bodies naturally begin to lose flexibility and muscle mass.
Strength and balance exercises done at least three times a week can reduce your risk of falling. We can fight the gradual loss of muscle and bone density by doing strength training. Strengthening the muscles surrounding our joints also protects our hips, knees, ankles, elbows, wrists and spine. Gymnastics helps improve our balance and mobility, in addition to gaining strength using body weight movements.
Even if we are in our 20s, 30s, or 40s, the choices we make now to build our bodies will have an impact as we age. Lifelong good habits are simple to keep. Note, however, that even someone in their 50s, 60s or 70s just beginning to exercise will reap incredible benefits.
It’s never too soon to begin to think about your future health, and it’s never too late to start improving it.
Coach Jen
* statistics cited from https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/older-adult-falls/index.html
Looking for help with your health and fitness routine?
Book a free No-Sweat Intro so we can learn how to help you best! – https://crossfitoffthegridfreeintro.as.me/
