Ways You Can Improve Your Agility And Balance As You Age

Many senior adults 65 years old and older have a serious fear of falling, which is highly justified as one in four senior adults will fall every year. These falls can lead to dangerous, even fatal, injuries. To help combat this danger, I’ve brought together several ways to effectively improve your agility and balance as you age.

Have Your Hearing And Balanced Checked

A person’s hearing and balance have a strong physiological link. Often, when a person has hearing loss, balance issues are often commonly found as well.

Going in for yearly hearing and balance exams can help you to catch potential fall risks as well as improve your overall balance.

Stand Up And Move Hourly

Many adults, both retired and those still actively working, lead sedentary lives. This can lead to many health issues which can affect your agility and balance, such as:

- Type 2 diabetes
- Obesity
- Muscle weakness

All these health issues can have a direct impact on your balance and agility. To combat these problems, make sure you stand up and move around at least once every hour you are awake. You may also find that doing this makes you more productive, as the movement can kickstart your brain into higher activity.

Engage In Regular Stretching

There are many senior adults move with slow, stiff movements as their muscles and ligaments have become stiff. Part of this is due to sedentary living and the other is often due to a lack of regular stretching.

Seniors which take the time to include regular stretching to their lives are better able to react to situations where they are in danger of falling. Whether you stick to simple stretching or want to try yoga or tai chi, you can be sure that focusing on your flexibility will serve you well.

Stick To An 80/20 Dietary Plan

No, you don’t need to start looking for some esoteric diet plan called 80/20. Sticking to an 80/20 diet simply is a method of balancing food intake. For 80% of your diet, intake foods such as:

- Whole grains
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Lean meats
- No processed foods (canned foods, fast food, frozen meals, etc)

Then, for your remaining 20%, you can eat a little less perfectly. Have a slice a cake during your friend’s birthday party, eat a handful of chips, and simply train your body to enjoy moderation. This way of moderate food consumption can help delay health issues which can impact your balance and agility as you age.

Utilize Balance Training Equipment

There a many pieces of workout equipment which can help train your body for better balance. Along with standard pieces of cardio equipment such as treadmills and stationary bikes, you can try:

- Mini trampolines which can simulate the jolting falling process. For those unsteady on their feet, some of these mini trampolines have balance bars attached.
- Balance boards can be tricky for senior adults to use, so I would recommend the boards which are half-ball, half-board. They are more stable and are easier to use.
- Stability balls allow you to work on your balance from many different angles. You can purchase them in a variety of sizes.

You don’t have to live in fear of falling as you age. Try and implement my suggestions and see how much you can improve your balance and agility, even as you grow older.

Resources:

- Important Facts about Falls. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adultfalls.html
- The Balance & Hearing Relationship From The Hearing Doctors. (2017, January 18). Retrieved from https://www.hearingdoctors.net/blog/the-balance-hearing-relationship-fro...
- Too Much Sitting: The Population-Health Science of Sedentary Behavior. (2012, July 25). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404815/
- Naturally Increase Your Productivity With These Tips. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/naturally-increase-your-productivity-...
- Information About Stretching Exercises (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Information_About_Stretching_Exercise...