When old people fall, some of them may have trouble getting back up again if they are weak or have been injured. However, sometimes even a younger person may experience difficulty getting upright again after a fall. I was surprised when, not long ago, a friend of mine told me that her daughter fell down and could not get back up until someone came to help her.
Advertisers tell people they should not fall, and to buy their product to help prevent falls. Senior citizens are made to feel petrified about the possibility of a fall since they are warned that they could break a bone or be stranded and not able to get up off the floor. While it is normal to not want to fall, and, as we get older, most of us do not take as many crazy risks as we did in younger days, there are certainly things each of us can do to reduce the chance of injury when we hit the floor and to enable us to get back up again!
Diet and exercise are both key factors here. This article will focus on the exercise factor. Exercise can help prevent falls by making your muscles stronger and more flexible. It can help improve your balance. It can also increase your stamina or endurance, reducing the likelihood that you will trip or lose your balance because of being tired. It is important to do exercise specific to each goal you want to accomplish: strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance.
STRENGTH EXERCISES. It is vital to build strength in your arms, legs, and abdominal area. Use those arms, work with dumbbells, do wall push-ups, and do other things that are weight bearing. Leg muscles can be built by doing squats, and using your legs to get up from a chair. The abdominal muscles can be helped by practicing turning to one side while lying down, doing crunches or sit-ups. Of course, approach your strength building exercises carefully. Do fewer times to start, use lighter weights, increase repetitions or weight slowly to avoid injury. Do the strength-building exercises two or three days a week. If you are doing intense strength-building exercises, your muscles will probably need a day to recover between workouts.
FLEXIBILITY. Stretching exercises will increase flexibility. Lots of things to choose from here. A great place to be creative. Touch your toes from sitting or standing. Move your arms in different directions. Twist your waist. Keep your neck muscles flexible, too. Stretching can be done everyday.
BALANCE. Stand on one foot, hold on to something if you need to, but work towards not holding on to anything. Get up out of a chair without holding on to the chair. Walking helps balance, too. Balance activities can be practiced daily.
ENDURANCE or STAMINA. There are many ways to build endurance and stamina. Walking, of course, is one of the best. Cleaning your house, mowing the lawn, or any exercise that requires exertion for a certain amount of time will increase your ability to keep going. As with all exercise, regardless of what your goals are, build up to it or your body may react in a negative way with aches and pains. If you don't overdo it and need a day to recover, endurance activities can be done everyday, too.
Physical fitness is important to your health, whether you experience a fall or not. Realize, though, that taking the time to work on fitness now could be a real life saver to you and definitely should help you feel better every day of your life!
As we age, in order to maintain optimum health, the body seems to have a higher requirement for nutrition and exercise. One way to increase nutrition is to add vitamin & mineral supplements, such as can be found at http://www.NutritionTeam.net. For more articles by Judy Thompson delivered straight to your inbox, get your free subscription at http://www.LearnNutritionBasics.com. The Bible in Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge... " Don't let your lack of knowledge destroy your health... get your free subscription today!
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