Strengthening Seniors
November 09, 2009 21:56 PM
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WUSA) -- At her midday exercise class, Dorothy, 86, recalls her days as a national champion figure skater and says, "...I have no intention of slowing down. I've taken up dancing now."
Seniors like Dorothy understand that aging is not synonymous with losing your independence.
The National Institutes of Health says every year, more than 300,000 older Americans head to the hospital with a broken hip or bone fracture as the result of a fall.
Another class participant, Bob Connolly, 70, never considered how much not being able to be independent really mattered until he says when, "..a year ago I fell down the steps at home and tore up my knee."
Sport and Health Club designed Fall Proof Mobility, a class designed to help the aging population avoid debilitating injuries.
Fitness instructor Pat Backe says many people, as they age, won't notice until it's too late that muscles and joints don't function like before.
Pat explains, "They go to bend over and pick something up and all of a sudden, their balance is off."
The class is broken into breathing exercises that work on cardiovascular fitness and building endurance, strength training to boost the function of muscles and joints. Maybe most important of all, balance exercises that help stabilize their center of gravity.
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