His aim is to inspire readers of The best side of 60 to keep fit, strong and healthy.
Exercise is not only advantageous for the body, but it also keeps the brain alert and enhances one's mood. So keep up with these exercises and you will feel the difference!
When we were young, there was no problem getting up after falling down on the grass during break time at school. As we get older, responsibilities and adulthood take over our life; we play less and work more. This usually means spending more time in meetings or on airplanes or in front of a computer. This happens at the expense of exercise or play.
As we get less active it becomes harder to maintain strength and endurance in our muscles. We lose muscle mass and our nerves also become less and less efficient at stimulating muscle function. With poor muscle activation it becomes harder and harder to keep our balance. When the muscles in the lower leg and around the ankle are weak, we tend to stumble or fall over more easily. Getting up after a fall is not as easy now and it can be really dangerous.
When standing on one leg you can feel the balance shifting on the sole of that foot to help keep you upright. This shouldn't be too difficult with your eyes open as our eyes give us immediate feedback on where we are and where our balance is shifting. However, if we close our eyes, keeping our balance can become quite challenging.
When we close our eyes, we rely only on the changes in pressure on the sole of the foot and the efficiency of the nervous system to transfer this to the brain and back down to the foot to adapt its position according to where the balance has shifted. Complicated, I know, but the exercises for improving your overall balance are quite simple.
Balancing
Firstly, you can fold your arms across your chest and balance on one leg without fully straightening the leg you are standing on. Keep your eyes open to start with. See how long you can hold that position. Balancing for one minute without falling over is a very good target. If this exercise is too easy with your eyes open, put your arms out to the side like the wings of a bird in flight (Figure 1). Now close your eyes and see how long you can hold your balance. The only way for your balance to improve is if you actually fight the feeling of losing your balance. Try staying upright for as long as you possibly can.
If this exercise is too easy, then fold your arms across your chest, balance on one leg and close your eyes (Figure2). Fight the feeling of falling over. Doing this exercise daily can drastically increase your balance by reactivating nerves and muscles responsible for strength in the lower leg and ankle and help prevent falls and injuries. Do about 5 minutes of balance training per day and try to do this 2-3 times a day.
Upright posture
Concerning your posture, always walk and sit upright as if you are trying to touch the sky with the crown of your head. Also, as mentioned last week, throughout any activities you ever do try holding in the belly below the belly button.
The muscle that is activated during this movement has a full-time job and must be pulled in one centimetre as long as you are awake. So when sitting or standing, lengthen the back of your neck while making yourself as tall as possible. When sitting, keep your back against the chair, from the lower back up to the shoulder blades.
A big thanks to Sandra Horne and Jenny Lehman for being the models for our exercises. They are two regulars in our pilates classes.
Next week we will focus on ankle stability.
Enjoy your exercises and let's stay young.
Figure 2: Jenny Lehman demonstrates the balance excercise with her arms folded.
