Don't just get your vision checked, train your vision!!!!

Every Tuesday I get a highlight of articles published nationwide about fall prevention, senior balance and mobility and senior exercises.  Week after week, I read the same messages; "fall-proof" your home environment, watch your medications, exercise, and get your vision and hearing checked.

I totally agree with these suggestions however, things need to change.  As science unveils more about the brain and balance, professionals need to update the message to older adults about falls and prevention of falls.

The number one fall prevention message to older adults should be train your vision.  Don't just get your vision checked and be told by some doctor who hasn't read a neuroscience article in the past ten years that 'you're getting old",  "your vision is going to get worse and there's nothing you can do about it", or "you cannot improve your vision".  FALSE.  This is FALSE information!

Vision is a skill and like all skills, it can improve with practice.  Yes, there are diseases of the eyes (macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts) that will cause loss of sight but get those eyes moving; especially if you have one of those diseases.

I'm not a doctor, I'm not an optmologist but I am a nervous system specialist, a brain exercise therapist.  Each eye has six muscles.  Those muscles are innervated by three cranial nerves that go directly into the brainstem.

If you want to activate your brain and have an immediate and profound effect on your life, move those eyes.  Learn how to train the four components of vision and your vision will get better.  Your thinking will get sharper.  Your balance will improve tenfold.

Vision is the #1 input to the brain.  Training your eyes is the quickest way to improve your brain health.  So in those same messages to older adults, I want to add, Don't just get your vision checked, TRAIN YOUR VISION and watch your life change.

In honor of the new year and the new decade, 

I'm offering a "Starter Pack" special;

90-minute consultation + (4) sixty-minute sessions for $525

Book today:  info@thefallpreventionlady.com

Change the way you see, change the way you move, change the way you feel.  Get those eyes moving.

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.

RockTape and Balance

I just attended a two-day seminar on taping of the body.  Rock Tape is a "movement company that dabbles in tape" and the art of taping is no longer reserved for professional athletes, we can all benefit from taping.  In fact, I learned some great techniques for relieving pain and fluid buildup, correcting posture, working with scars and improving range of motion; all of which my clients can benefit.

RockTape has partnered with Dr. Eric Cobb, the creator of Z-Health Performance, and as a studying Z-Health Master Practitioner, I was interested in learning more about the taping.  The course instructor was a doctor of Physical Therapy, Dr. Aaron Crouch.   The neat thing?  Aaron had been a student volunteer of mine during a fall prevention screening event in 2012!  Small world, now he's teaching me about RockTape!  He is a partner at Kime Performance Physical Therapy Training.

As a Brain Practitioner or one who trains the three sensory inputs the brain for better movement, I can say that RockTape only deals with one sensory system; the proprioceptive system.  It's refreshing to see a major company (RockTape) recognize the power of sensory input to the brain; the skin, joint and muscle receptors in this case.

Taping a body part improves the brain's mapping of that particular body part.  When injured, nerve damage can occur and receptor input of that area decreases.  As a result, movement suffers.  Taping increases sensory input from that area and immediately improves movement.  As always, you have to assess and re-assess to see the result.

It was cool to learn about scars and posture from a physical therapist perspective.  I've learned how to work with scars, posture, fluid buildup and pain from the brain's perspective so I enjoyed practicing how to tape clients after acute injury or specific to movement patterns.

I urged Aaron to attend Z-Health certification.   He will truly be blown away by the power of vision and vestibular systems which are two higher ranking sensory inputs in the brain's heirarchy for correcting movement.  Until then, RockTape is a great way to help people move better through improved body mapping to the brain.

Rock on.

Woodland Seniors Significantly Reduce Fall Risk

I just finished teaching my last class of 2019 at the Woodland Community Center.  I had 14 older adults in my brain-based fall prevention class and the results were some of the best scores I've ever seen.  From 96 years old to the youngest in the class, age 60, these mature adults got stronger, more flexible and moved quicker in eight sessions.

In four weeks, a 96-year old lady improved her lower body strength by 3 chair stands, reached 1.5 inches closer to her toes and walked 1 full second faster around a cone eight feet away.  These are tremendous improvements at 96 years old.

The most improved was 67 year old hispanic woman.  She improved lower body strength by 5 chair stands in 30 seconds, improved lower body flexibility by 3 full inches and improved her dynamic balance and agility by 8.7 seconds!  Yes, that's right!  8.7 seconds faster getting up and moving around a cone that is 8 feet away.  This skill alone can save her life.

I am so proud of everyone in the class.  Investing in this brain-based balance training can save your life.  Learning how to move quicker, with more flexibility and stronger legs, will improve reaction times.  We practice reaction strategies so if you lose your balance, you know how to react appropriately.  This improves your self confidence.

Some other noteworthy improvements:
A baby boomer couple in the class for work-related interests both significantly improved lower body strength; one by 7 chair stands and the other by 3 in 30 seconds.

A gentleman who survived a stroke over 20 years ago increased his lower body strength by 2 chair stands and his dynamic balance and agility by 3.3 seconds.  He moves a full 3.3 seconds faster getting up from a chair and walking eight feet, without a cane.  His overall walking gait showed significant improvement as well.

A 72 year old lady did 5 more chair stands in 30 seconds and reached 3.3 inches further.
A 78-year old lady did 3 more chair stands and reached a full 4.5 inches further.  "Reaching further" is a measurement of lower body flexibility.  The ability to touch your toes.  The ability to pick your foot up and not drag your toes, reduced low back pain because hamstrings are more flexible.

An 86-year old man increased lower body strength by 2 chair stands and improved lower body flexibility by 2 inches.  AT AGE 86.

A lady with Parkinson's showed significant improvement in her posture and reaction speeds.

You're never too young or too old to improve the way you move.  Movement is life and it's time to start living!

This brain-based training is great for anyone who wants to gain control of her/his body and enjoy life on life's terms.

Brain-based Strengthening and Fall Prevention

I just completed an upper level certification Z-Health Performance Training weekend in Phoenix and the course focused on Strength and Suppleness.  As a fall prevention expert, I take all information and tweak it to  improve balance and prevent falls among seniors.

Lower body weakness is the leading cause of falls among older adults.  Strength is the mastery of creating tension.  What's fascinating is that none of us (or very few) were ever taught how to create tension.  Suppleness is the mastery of relaxation.  The brain requires a balance between the two; there are parts of the brainstem dedicated to this balance.

Even though we walk around "tense" from all the stressors in life, we are not creating strength; we are stressing and fatiguing our bodies.  One of the best ways to learn how to create tension in your muscles is an isometric contraction.   In fact, isometric contraction activates parts of the brain dedicated to midline stability (the supplementary motor area).

Isometric contractions are pushing (or pulling) against a stationary object.  This creates tension in the muscles.  Remember, strength is the mastery of creating tension in the muscles.  You have to know how to create tension and be comfortable with it.

If you want to touch your toes, do an isometric bicep curl.  In other words, with arm bent at 90 degrees by your side as if you were going to do a bicep curl, press down on wrist.  Try to pull wrist toward body.  Hold this contraction for 20 seconds.  THAT IS HARD TO DO.  Then try to touch your toes.  It should be better.

There are other ways to create tension in the muscle but isometric contraction is the least threatening to the brain and a great way to start.    Movement is life and it's time to start moving.

If you're ready to move better with less pain, contact me for a private consultation.  I do online training sessions.  It's never too late to improve your balance or your movement.

info@thefallpreventionlady.com