Have you ever tripped over your own toes???

If you've ever tripped over your own toes, you want to do this ridiculously easy exercise, seated rather than standing!

In this video demonstration, Kelly (aka, The Fall Prevention Lady) demonstrates how to strengthen the muscles responsible for picking up the toes!  This muscle group atrophies with age (meaning it naturally gets weaker and less able to function with the aging process), so it's crucial that you USE THIS MUSCLE OR YOU WILL LOSE THIS MUSCLE.

Vimeo link:  Don't Trip Over Your Own Toes!!!

I just turned 50 in January and even though I'm a 'youngster' compared to my clients, I'm still at risk of falling with each passing birthday.
My message to you is that you're never too old or too young to start doing these maintenance
exercises if you want to remain independent and able.

IF you don't want to trip over your toes, pick them up!!!!

The Fall Prevention Lady.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday mornings starting in April for
"Coffee Talk with The Fall Prevention Lady"!
7am, PST
9am, CST
10am, EST.

Don't trip, pick em up!
The Fall Prevention Lady

Greatest Improvement Award is a TIE; 66 and 69 year old

We just finished another awesome 4-week FallProof™ balance training session at Fit-4U Fitness Studio and the results are in!  Everyone, from age 66-81, improved in at least TWO areas of physical fitness directly involved in daily balance.

The greatest improvements were seen in lower body strength and lower body flexibility; both essential in a steady walking gait, reduced tripping hazards and improved reaction times.  I use standardized senior fitness tests to do pre-and post-testing; after all, you're guessing if you're not assessing.

The (69) sixty-nine year old participant results:

• Lower body Strength:  75% stronger in pre-and post-scores
• Lower body Flexibility:  Gained an inch of flexibility and movement
• Dynamic Balance and Agiliity: Quicker by one and half seconds

(66) sixty-six year old female:

• Increased lower body strength by 15% however she is now in the 100th percentile of women same age.
• Increased lower body flexibility by three and a half inches; placing her in the 13th percentile for similar age and gender

Excellent job everyone in the class!

While I love seeing huge improvements like these, four weeks is an unusually short time to expect such results.  It is not a competition but these numbers do not lie; your body was made to be in motion.  Let's keep it that way!

Next class begins March 30th.

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Exercise, Fall Prevention, and Successful Aging

Yesterday I saw one of the best Geriatricians in the country, Dr. Michael McCloud. Together, the Department of Public Health's Center for Gerontology, the UC Davis Center for Healthy Aging, Kaiser Permanente, and Mercy Healthcare of Sacramento are offering a series of 1-hour educational seminars that encourage "Successful Aging".

So what is successful aging? Dr. McCloud pointed out that "successful", just like aging, is highly individualized. What is important to me and defines my success in aging may be entirely different from yours. To Dr. McCloud, quality of life is more important that quantity of years and he does not want to become dependent on anyone for his existence.

He touched on some topics that concern most of us as we age as well as some that are requirements of healthy aging. Here are 3 topics he didn't spend extraneous amounts of time discussing but explained why they are important components of successful aging:

1. Nutrition: Everyone has heard it a thousand times: Burn more calories than you consume, eat your Omega 3s, indulge in antioxidants, avoid trans and saturated fats, minimize sugar consumption, and watch your cholesterol. There's no sense in re-inventing the wheel: eat right, eat healthy, eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full.

2. Improved Sleep Habits. Dr. McCloud also encourages better sleep habits, like getting more of it! We are mammals and we mammals require sleep. Quit trying to deprive yourself, get to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual and you will be more alert, less likely to have an accident and less likely to fall.

3. Exercise. Dr. McCloud recognized exercise as one of the key components of successful aging. There isn't any avoiding it, you need to stay active to stay alive and to stay vibrant. It doesn't have to be strenuous and it doesn't have to involve spandex, but it does have to be consistent! How can you get your gentle, consistent activity?

Take 5 to Exercise! My 5-day series will guide you through effective seated exercises that address the 4 components of an effective Fall Prevention exercise routine. Staying active is a lifestyle choice, a choice that cannot be avoided if you want to live a quality life the remaining quantity of your years.

NO gadgets, no pills, no gimmicks...get moving! We'll get back to the basics as I coach you how to move properly and reduce your risk of a fall. Visit take5toexercise, to order your copy today. Perfect gift for your loved ones.

Your Fall Prevention Lady