Get Stronger, More Flexible Legs in Four Weeks!

I just finished my first four-week brain-based balance training session of 2020 at the Andy Morin Sports Complex in Folsom, CA.   A class of eight older adults were eager to train the two things they don't want to lose; their brains and their balance and the most consistent improvements were stronger, more flexible legs.

The pre/post senior fitness tests showed remarkable improvements; life changing results.  Recall that I use the only standardized senior fitness tests to measure lower body strength, lower body flexibility and dynamic balance and agility on the first and last day of class.  

Legs are your fall prevention muscles; strong legs keep you upright and independent.  Having flexibility in lower body helps you walk safer by picking up your feet without tripping and increased lower body flexibility is directly related to reduced low back pain.

The most improved student was a 70- year old woman.  She increased lower body strength by (9) NINE chair stands, in 30 seconds!  She reached 3.5 inches further when reaching toward her toes and walked one and half seconds faster in the 8' Up and Go test.

Amazing.  These are life changing improvements.  She has stronger, more flexible legs and moves quicker on her feet.  This woman had vision problems that were trained over the four weeks and she now has skills to continue training her vision at home.

Perhaps the greatest improvement was an 82-year old woman who could not stand up without using
her hands on the first day.  On the last day, she did NINE (9) chair stands without using her hands.  This is a huge improvement when it comes to safety, and dignity!  She also improved lower body flexibility by (3) three full inches.  This is huge when it comes to low back pain and fall risk.

One participant who has more physical aliments than others improved her dynamic balance and agility (how quickly she got up and walked around a cone) by (4) FOUR full seconds.  Walking quicker with a steadier gait is a huge improvement that can save a person's life.  This woman has vestibular issues that require one-on-one training but we were able to find several high payoff drills that significantly improved her balance.  Instantly.

I have to note that this is small group training and individual needs cannot be addressed in a class setting.  Due to the nature of brain-training, individualized assessment and testing is required and strongly recommended.   I offer private sessions at a substantially reduced rate to all class participants.

The final significant improvement I'd like to mention is a 77-year old woman who increased lower body strength by (3) three chair stands and lower body flexibility by (3) three inches.  Again, stronger more flexible legs significantly reduce fall risk.

Enroll in Brains and Balance Fall Prevention Training to improve leg strength, reduce lower body stiffness and improve walking gait thereby increase personal safety.

Movement is life.  It's time to start living!

Family encourages more Brains and Balance Training for 84 yo Grandmom

Family Encourages Continued Participation in Brains and Balance Training from The Brains and Balance Lady on Vimeo.

Woodland Brains and Balance Training class participant shares how repeating the four-week brain-based balance and mobility training program increased her self-confidence so much that her family wants her to repeat the class again in February.

84 years young and lives independently at home.  Her family adores her and loves seeing her continued engagement at the local senior and community center.  After repeating the class before the holidays, her family wants her to continue with the brain-based balance training program with Coach Kelly.

"Changes in the brain that affect movement and balance, known as neuroplasticity, requires constant practice", stated Brains and Balance Coach Kelly.  "In fact, a person needs to practice specific drills at least 20 hours per week for changes to stick".

20 hours?  That's not much when you break that practice into 5 minute segments.  It's suggested that you do recommended drills 4-5 times per day, 4-5 days per week, for positive changes to occur at the brain level.

Don't worry, you don't have to be a neuroscientist to succeed.  Coach Kelly specializes in teaching drills to activate the brain for desired changes.

Do you want:

1. Increased Balance Confidence
2. Better Balance
3. Quicker Reaction Speeds to Life's Imbalances
4. Improved Posture 
5. Better Vision
6. Steadier Walking Gait
7. YOUR INDEPENDENCE
8. Family's Peace of Mind

These are the things you get from my 4-week 'Brains and Balance Training' program.

Meet twice a week for four weeks.  Eight ninety-minute sessions that will transform your balance, your confidence, your walking gait and the way you move through life.

What are you waiting for????  

Fair Oaks:  

1.  Educational Workshop.  January 8th.  1-2:30p.  Fair Oaks United Methodist Church.  $5.

2.  Brains and Balance Training Classes.  Jan. 15-Feb. 7. 10-11:30a.   Fair Oaks United Methodist Church.  $125.

Woodland:

1.  Educational Workshop:  February 5th.  10-11:30am.  Woodland Community Center.  $5

2.  Brains and Balance Training Classes.  Feb. 12-March 7th. 1-2:30p.   Woodland Community Center.  $125

Lucky 13 students in Holiday Brains and Balance Session

I am thrilled to have 13 eager students enrolled in my holiday session of Brains and Balance Training at the Woodland Community and Senior Center in Woodland California.  A diverse group of men and women between 49 and 86 years old decided it was time to do something about their failing balance skills.

As I completed pre-assessment senior fitness testing, the small group got to know each other as they played balloon volleyball and called out things associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The first day is a healthy balance of movement and learning and everyone is assigned homework.

The second class focused on proprioception and walking gaits.  Students laughed as they tried simple movements in both directions and tried to remember which walking gait was #3.  Reaction speeds got better as threat was reduced.  Nervous smiles were wiped away with laughter.  Movement is life and relearning how to move should be fun!

Everyone brings their unique challenges to balance and movement because we all have lived different lives and made different choices in that lifetime.  Some of us were dealt a rotten hand.  We're all trying to get by the best we can and for some, that's harder to do.  

I'm so excited about working with this awesome group who has taken time out of their busy holiday schedule to invest in themselves.  These people are giving themselves the gift of independence.  Gain control of their body and learn to move again with sensory input activation.

Brains and Balance Training.  These people are learning how to activate parts of their brain that contribute to good movement, stable balance, better vision and less pain.  All through sensory activation drills and muscle activation exercises.  

You've got to give the brain what it needs for healthy function.  Let me show you how!  Join a brains and balance training class or enroll in my online balance training program!
Gift yourself.  

#1 Benefit of Brains and Balance Training: Improved Walking Gait

Participants from my four-week brain-based balance and mobility training classes shared the best personal benefit of the program and every single person noted better walking gait!  Wow!

Imagine walking with confidence, increased awareness and feeling more stable.

Steadier walking gait.  Walking is a dynamic integrated movement process that requires strength, flexibility, coordination and balance.  These students over the age of 65 strengthened muscles of hip and leg needed for stability.   They stretched their flexibility and they trained their reflexive stability skills.

Increased awareness of self and surroundings.  Peripheral field vision training increases ability to see what you're not looking at.  This results in better awareness of floor and objects in your pathway and quicker reaction times to imbalances and threats.

Increased confidence.  You feel more in control of your body within your surroundings.  This confidence exudes through better posture as a result of increased spatial awareness.

You envisioned yourself walking steady, strong and upright.  Make that vision a reality.  Get results!

Isn't that the number one purpose of balance training?
To feel more steady on your feet?  
To be aware of your body in space?
To know when and how to react in the case of imbalance???   

Brains and Balance Training with Coach Kelly

Stroke Survivor shows huge improvements in Brains and Balance Training class

The lone wolf.  The only guy in a class of three sisters and another female and the only reason this 79-year old stroke survivor was even in the class was because his wife signed him up!   Marv represented well and tied the oldest sister for most improved in the class.

Ninety minutes, twice a week for four-weeks.  Eight sessions of brain-based balance and mobility training.  Marv missed the first week so in essence, he improved the most the quickest!   He walked in with a severe limp and a cane and walked out tall and steady with his cane. 

His lower body strength improved 4.  In other words, he could stand up and sit down four more times in 30 seconds.  He reached nearly 3 inches further and was able to touch his toes!  This is tremendous!  His legs and low back aren't as stiff.  The greatest functional gain is that he was 2-seconds faster getting up from the chair and walking around a cone!  And steady, too!

The science of neuroplasticity is behind the significant improvements this man made in three weeks.  Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change structure to become more efficient.  The brain is hard-wired for survival and with precise training, you get precise results.

If you're tired of NOT GETTING RESULTS, I can help!  The training strategies I use are based on functional neurology and the science of neuroplasticity proves that change is possible at any age and any ability.

You know there's more to life than what you've been told to accept.  You know there's got to be another way.  If you've tried everything and nothing has worked, it's time to try something else!

I offer holistic, science-based training principles that will transform your balance, movement and vision when done as suggested.

Brains and Balance Lady

2019 Classes and Workshops
Private In-Home Training
Online Balance Training Course

Improve Your Walking Gait So You Don't Fall Down

Put your best foot forward in 2018!  Be one step ahead of the game; step up to the next level; keep on keeping on.   The new you, progress, growth; it all begins with the first step.  But which step is the hardest?  The first step. 

As an experienced balance and movement specialist, I teach people how to move; how to take that first step.  What is fascinating to me is how the forces transmitted from the ground move through the human body and affect how we move.  These forces pulse through the foot with each step and follow an integrated pathway through the body. 

HUH?  Ground forces?  Has she finally lost her mind?  No I haven't!!!!  It's a scientific fact that the ground, a solid structure, exerts forces when landed upon and these forces travel UPWARD through the body with each step.

Foot to ground.  The power of the force on the foot is directly related to your weight.  With each strike of the heel, forces two to three times your body weight  travel through the foot structures to the toes as you push off to take another step. 

This is the reason why the more you weigh, the greater the forces on your body with each step.

Don't Fall Down; Fall Prevention 101 by Kelly Ward

The pathway of ground forces from the heel upward through the body is:

• From the heel forces run up the outer side of the lower leg
• Outside the knee
• Up the outer portion of the thigh 
• Through the hip socket
• Up and around the backside of the pelvis   
• Cross at the SI joint (Sacroilliac=where the low back and hip meet)
• Up the other side of the spine
• Down the arm OR Up the jaw

If you want to put your best foot forward, take care of your feet!  Engage in regular toe and ankle exercises for the joints.  Use a lacrosse ball on the bottom of your foot to maintain smooth, efficient force transmission. 

If you don't do lower body flexibility and strengthening exercises, your walking gait will be affected.  This not only limits the fun activities you will be able to do but also increases the risk of a fatal trip and fall.

Maintain the foot so you can put the best foot forward.

I can tie my own shoes now!!!

While the face of participants in my FallProof™ balance & mobility classes is getting younger, I still have the honor of coaching a few people over the age of 80.  In the April session at Fit4-U, I had both the 83-year old mom and her 56-year old daughter in class.  This was quite a combination and both did exceptionally well.  In fact, the oldest member of the class was also the most improved!

Barbara came to the Fall Prevention 101 workshop I presented at the local Church of Latter Day Saints and she was told me she eager to get started on the homework exercises since her balance was 'horrible'.  She was the first person in the door on the first day of balance training and she proudly stated that she had been doing her homework every night!

She came to class using a walker and said she only used it once in awhile and mostly because her daughter was so worried about her balance.  I assured her it was ok to use it when necessary and smiled as I said, 'you won't be needing that when I'm done with you!'.

By the fourth class, Barbara had switched from bringing her walker with her to carrying a cane.  She didn't use either in class but carried them 'just in case'.  The improvement in her walking gait became evident to everyone by the fifth class; she was standing taller, no longer looked at the floor and her walking stride was longer and stronger.

On the first day of class, she refused to do the sit and reach assessment because her back and legs were so stiff, it hurt for her to bend forward toward her toes.  I showed her a modified way to do that exercise and on the last day, she not only did the assessment but also scored in the 37th percentile for women her age in lower body flexibility!!!

At the last class, she was so excited about everyone's kind responses to her noticeable posture and walking gait improvements.  She was in tears as she recollected how she couldn't touch her toes or put on her own shoes before participating in this class.  She smiled ear to ear as she talked about how surprised her daughter in Arizona will be with her improvement when she visits next month.

A wise, vibrant woman, Barbara gets the connection between staying active and being independent.  She can't wait to repeat the beginner class in June and I can't wait to see her again, too!

Movement is life.  Start living.
The Fall Prevention Lady

Post-balance training test results are in and this is amazing!

I just finished coaching a four-week FallProof™ balance training session at a local church here in Carmichael, California.  Even though we had a small group, the improvements were HUGE~

I test fitness parameters associated with fall risk both the first and last day of class to measure the effectiveness of the classes.  I do this for several reasons; one, I am a firm believer in using standardized tests to measure the effectiveness of intervention strategies.  Secondly, I am a firm believer in the FallProof™ program and have been keeping data for over eight years to show the effectiveness of the program and the methodology of instruction.

Lastly, numbers don't lie.  Balance can be a subjective feeling that is hard to measure so having pre-and post-data clearly shows the impact of participating in the class on the three fitness parameters associated with balance and falls.

Ages varied from 67 to 89. Fitness levels ranged from highly independent and active to high fall-risk.   Here are the results:

•  Dynamic Balance:  89 yo improved her speed and agility by 2.5 seconds  (+2.5 seconds)
•  Lower body strength:  67 yo increased leg strength by 5 chair stands, putting her in the 100th   percentile for women her age  (+5 stands)
• Lower body flexibility:
• 89 yo man: improved (4)four inches in (4)four weeks   (+4.1 inches)
• 81 yo woman:  increased flexibility 6.5 inches in four weeks  (+6.5 inches)

I am so proud everyone in the class.  These people "get it" and understand the importance of consistent movement to remain independent .  They also "get" the fact that balance can improve but it takes effort.  Isn't your independence and vitality worth the effort?  

Next class starting March 30th at Fit-4U Fitness Studio. 

Contact me at info@thefallpreventionlady.com

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Best stretch for preventing falls w/The Fall Prevention Lady

Finally, the best stretch available to improve walking gait, relieve back pain and prevent falls!  This seated stretch is easy to do and when modified, can be done by anyone!

I'm extremely flexible so don't think you have to reach as far as me because any little bit will help you.  Be careful, keep back straight and always support your upper body weight.

This stretch is a winner!



Do this everyday and notice the benefits! Thanks for watching.

Kelly

The Fall Prevention Lady™