Prevent falls this fall!
It’s almost fall – and it’s the time of year to prevent them! You know that I’m a huge advocate of practicing your balance to prevent falls. I interviewed Kathleen Cameron, Senior Director of the Center for Healthy Aging, a while back about preventing falls – https://fitness-over-50.com/2017/07/prevent-falls-my-interview-with-kathleen-cameron/ .
I even developed a series of simple exercises anyone can do to improve their balance and prevent falls in just minutes a day. And I run a Facebook group with ongoing balance challenges.
Sleepwalking through balance exercises
I became complacent, though. I’ve been sort of half-heartedly, sort of somnambulently performing the balance exercises myself.
And I fell Friday night. Granted, it was while I was carrying my 20-pound Boston Terrier over a 2-foot fence, but it gave me a wake-up call, all the same!
Naughty puppy!
Booker had jumped the fence (within our larger fenced back yard – it’s an area we don’t want the dogs to go in) because he thought he saw a chipmunk. There was no other wildlife in there, he was just being a jerk. In the heat of the moment he jumps the fence with no problem but can’t seem to figure out how to get back. I climbed over the fence – angry, short-tempered – and as I was climbing back out my foot caught in the top of the fence and I fell. Naturally, I didn’t want my dog to get hurt, so protected him. My face seemed to catch the brunt. Fortunately, just scrapes and bruises. There doesn’t seem to be any deeper damage.
It could have been worse, but …
And perhaps because I do some balance work, I was not hurt as badly as I could have been. But, I knew that I’d been slacking on some of the balance exercises!
So, with renewed commitment, I’ll be focusing much more on practicing balance and preventing falls.
It is almost fall. And after fall is winter, and ice and snow. Slippery stuff. It’s easy to slip and lose your balance and fall. Why not do just a few minutes of balance exercises a day to try to prevent any falls you can! Read my interview with Kathleen (https://fitness-over-50.com/2017/07/prevent-falls-my-interview-with-kathleen-cameron/) to see the statistics on just how prevalent falls are, and then commit to prevent the falls that you can!
