Forever Fit

January 20, 2020  By Vanessa  In Exercise  No Comments

Senior Fitness does more than keeping your body and mind healthy…It can save your life. 

Did you know that each year, more than 25 percent of adults 65 or older have a fall, and 3 million are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As we age, our ability to maintain our balance is often diminished, bringing a sense of fear and even more loss of movement. Often the loss of balance stems from a combination of loss of muscle control. This is why maintaining your fitness as you age is so important. Building strong muscles and bones can help keep you safe. Adding strength training to your fitness routine can also be a huge benefit.

Not only will exercise help strengthen muscles, it also helps with cognition, helping to stimulate the brain and possibly slowing the progress of dementia, which is important as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia provide an additional risk factor for falling. However, all seniors can benefit from exercise as it improves strength and balance, improves physical fitness through strong muscles and flexible joints that allow greater independence, keeps bones strong, reduces the risk of osteoporosis and breaks that occur because of falls, according to The Caring Senior Service National.

Regularly doing fall prevention exercises reduces fall risk by specifically strengthening key muscles and joints to improve balance. Specific strength, balance and flexibility exercises can easily be added to of your everyday resistance workouts.

A number of lower-body strength exercises—especially those that strengthen your legs and ankles—also can help improve your balance. These include the back leg raise, side leg raise, knee curl, and toe stand exercises.

Falls can have very serious consequences as we age, but there are ways that can help you age gracefully. We have designed a fitness program to help with balance and stability and have trainers who specialize with senior adults. Please always feel free to ask any questions or book a session with us today to find out how we can help you.