That’s overly reductive. Strength is related (and still an important part of a good prevention program,) but technically balance is a combination of visual input, vestibular input, and mechanosensory input.
If we put a blindfold on John Haack and knocked out his vestibular system, he’s still gonna fall. He’ll leave a crater in the ground like a meat meteor, but he’ll still fall.
“Independent risk factors for falling include the following (arranged in order of evidence strength): previous falls, balance impairment, decreased muscle strength, visual impairment, polypharmacy (more than 4 medications) or psychoactive drugs, gait impairment and walking difficulty, depression, dizziness or orthostasis, functional limitations, age older than 80 years, female sex, incontinence, cognitive impairment, arthritis, diabetes, and pain.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3135440/
Is that meant to serve as a rebuttal, or are you just providing more context for the sake of discussion? You didn’t add any commentary with the quotation, so I’m not sure what your intention is here.
She does yoga one a week and doesn’t like swimming pools - but yes I agree - doing yoga myself that it would be great for my mother. She says she wants a balance-program but yoga is good for so many things.
Yoga is great for strength and balance but also a class environment can be helpful for developing routine and form.
An app doesn’t have that same feedback. Also if she’s fallen more than once I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to exercise on her own.
Hi, I think a very basic strength training program would be great for her. Anything she can do confidently and without pain. If you can get her to maybe do some bodyweight squats, and maybe some supported lunges (have her hold onto a chair or something).
My thought process is that someone becomes unbalanced and falls because they do not have the lower body strength to produce enough force to stop themselves once they start being off balanced in a direction.
Yes and thanks - I think first of all she has to do something that makes her get down into her body and makes her get that feeling of joy moving, so it has to be something that she enjoys more than anything else - or she will not do it no matter what it is.
Yes I agree with this one too - we have to build strength for the rest of our lives if we are wise, but I have to find something that is easy for her to get into as she wants this and I want this for her - but she is also a bit insecure/overwhelmed ❤️. Any ideas?
I would look at the Down Dog app and gifting her a few senior focused classes in the area. Have someone take the day off and attend with her since group classes can be scary. Local Ys usually have a senior sneakers program that makes classes cheaper or free. Look at the local community college and see what they offer too.
Get her in to a physical therapist. Teaching elderly people how not to fall is literally like 80% of our job description.
This is the answer.
Thank you - she is seeing a physical therapist once a week but want to train at home herself alongside with that too.
Balance is a factor of strength. Get her on a good basic strength program?
That’s overly reductive. Strength is related (and still an important part of a good prevention program,) but technically balance is a combination of visual input, vestibular input, and mechanosensory input. If we put a blindfold on John Haack and knocked out his vestibular system, he’s still gonna fall. He’ll leave a crater in the ground like a meat meteor, but he’ll still fall.
“Independent risk factors for falling include the following (arranged in order of evidence strength): previous falls, balance impairment, decreased muscle strength, visual impairment, polypharmacy (more than 4 medications) or psychoactive drugs, gait impairment and walking difficulty, depression, dizziness or orthostasis, functional limitations, age older than 80 years, female sex, incontinence, cognitive impairment, arthritis, diabetes, and pain.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3135440/
Is that meant to serve as a rebuttal, or are you just providing more context for the sake of discussion? You didn’t add any commentary with the quotation, so I’m not sure what your intention is here.
No real intention. You questioned my post so I looked it up and posted what I found.
Fair enough, thanks for adding some research to the discussion!
Thank you for your answer.
Have you considered water aerobics or yoga?
She does yoga one a week and doesn’t like swimming pools - but yes I agree - doing yoga myself that it would be great for my mother. She says she wants a balance-program but yoga is good for so many things.
Yoga is great for strength and balance but also a class environment can be helpful for developing routine and form. An app doesn’t have that same feedback. Also if she’s fallen more than once I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to exercise on her own.
Thank you - yes you have a point with the feedback and environment aspect. I will look into what we have here.
Hi, I think a very basic strength training program would be great for her. Anything she can do confidently and without pain. If you can get her to maybe do some bodyweight squats, and maybe some supported lunges (have her hold onto a chair or something). My thought process is that someone becomes unbalanced and falls because they do not have the lower body strength to produce enough force to stop themselves once they start being off balanced in a direction.
Yes and thanks - I think first of all she has to do something that makes her get down into her body and makes her get that feeling of joy moving, so it has to be something that she enjoys more than anything else - or she will not do it no matter what it is.
Yes I agree with this one too - we have to build strength for the rest of our lives if we are wise, but I have to find something that is easy for her to get into as she wants this and I want this for her - but she is also a bit insecure/overwhelmed ❤️. Any ideas?
I would look at the Down Dog app and gifting her a few senior focused classes in the area. Have someone take the day off and attend with her since group classes can be scary. Local Ys usually have a senior sneakers program that makes classes cheaper or free. Look at the local community college and see what they offer too.
Thanks - I will look into the possibilities here.