Feel weak? Stand up.

Lower body weakness is the #1 cause of falls among the older adult population.  Because of that, I call your legs your "fall prevention muscles".  If you want to react quicker to imbalance, if you want to walk straight and feel stable when standing, if you want to prevent a fall, you need to strengthen your leg muscles; both upper and lower leg.

The easiest way that has been proven to make your legs stronger is to do a 'chair stand'.  Simply stand up then sit back down.  No fancy equipment, no grueling routine, simply stand up and sit back down. It's suggested you cross your arms on your chest but if you need your hands to stand up, try pushing off with one hand.  If you can't do that, use both hands.

The next thing is to find out how many you should do.  I use the Senior Fitness Test and have people stand up and sit down as many times as they can in 30 seconds.  That might not seem like a long time until you're doing it!  Do as many stand up/sit downs as you can.  Write that number down and that's how many you do each day.  It doesn't have to take you 30 seconds but when the last one is as easy as the first, do another.

I just finished my first four-week brain-based balance training session at The Heritage in El Dorado Hills and this group got stronger!  Six out of nine people (two were not in class) did three more chair stands in their 30-second post-test.  Three more chair stands in 30 seconds.  These are healthy older adults living in the community, living in their homes, wanting to stay in their homes.

Three more chair stands might not sound like a big deal but until it's you doing it!  These people worked hard and increased lower body strength while improving center of gravity awareness in four short weeks.   Huge improvements for the prevention of falls.

Stronger legs translate to quicker reaction times, more muscle mass, stable walking gaits, and the ability to get up from the floor or get up from a chair easier.  You've got to practice the skills to get up from the floor and follow the tips to get up from the chair but strong legs make independence possible.