Tis the season to be Jolly, but is your coordination and balance up to it?
Going to have a few drinks and attempt your Gangnam style dance or even if staying sober have a read through the 2011 NHS stats about accidents over the Christmas Period
If you are struggling now with coordination and balance and when is the last time you assessed this ? Then this does deteriorate with age and plays a major factor in potential injury .
With the loss of muscle mass, strength, and endurance and the deterioration of neurologic control of our movements and slower reflexes that occur with age the fear of falling is warranted.
Cardiovascular and muscle strength training helps significantly to reduce the risk of falling. However, specific agility, balance and coordination training can even further reduce the risk of falling. Unfortunately, this form of exercise training is often ignored with dire consequences.
Definitions;
Agility – It is the ability to change direction quickly
Balance- It is the ability to maintain a specific body position in either a stationary or dynamic situation
Coordination- It is the ability to use all body parts together to produce smooth and fluid motion.
Each of these is an important component in our ability to move safely, to perform the activities of daily living effectively and to enjoy recreational activities. We can all benefit from implementing agility, balance and coordination training into our regular exercise routine and this is especially true for the 50+ adult.
Benefits of Agility, Balance and Coordination Training
* Help improve efficiency of movement.
* Improve overall body awareness during movement
* Decrease risk of injury
* Improve rehabilitation
* Improve posture
* Improve ability to perform *recreational and competitive activities
* Improve ability to perform activities of daily living and therefore improve quality of life.
* Makes exercise more functional.
There are multitudes of physiological factors that can a compromise of our agility, balance and coordination as we age. Therefore it is imperative that we make our exercise routines as functional as possible. This will help slow the disabling effects that age may have on the 50+ adult to perform activities effectively and safely.
It is essential to maintain muscle mass as we age so a good strength program is important and Yoga is excellent as involves of own body weight strength and balance moves. Dancing and raquet sports are good for coordination . If you are gravity challenged then perhaps in 2014 you should consider some new workouts
