How much you think about getting older will depend on what stage of life you are in.
If you are in your 20s, all carefree and sprightly, you’re probably not thinking about it much.
If you are in your 50s, it’s probably lurking in your consciousness as you start to creak and groan.
And if you are in your 90s, you’re probably harking back to when you were sprightly, and the world didn’t make you groan.
(Judging by my interest in longevity and growing older, I’m sure you can work out at which phase I’m in.)
One of the things we want for our old age is the ability to move freely, in a way that doesn’t cause pain. This means that we need to maintain good mobility, flexibility, and strength, but also something that might not obviously spring to mind- speed.
The Bad News
One of the most significant issues as we get older is our risk of falling. And a hip fracture can be much more than a broken bone. Older adults have a five-to-eight times higher risk of dying within the first three months after a hip fracture compared with people of the same age and sex without one. And to top it off with this joyous news - research has found it is still elevated ten years later. (I bet you are pleased you started reading this today.)
If you’re over 50, I’ve probably put the heebie-jeebies* in you. If you’re 49, you’re still in the sprightly phase and can skip and frolic with abandon. However, us ‘oldies’ might think we have to be extra vigilant when moving, keeping our eyes glued to the floor desperately trying not to trip over.
If that is the plan of action, then I am sorry to say it isn’t necessarily the best solution. One possible explanation comes from ‘ironic process theory’, which includes ‘the white bear’ phenomenon. This is where trying to suppress a thought can make it keep popping back in your head. Similar effects have been found in movement: concentrating on an error you’re trying to avoid can sometimes make it more likely, espeically under pressure. “I must not fall, I must not fall, I must not faaaaaaall….” And boom you’re down on your tush*.
Breaking Down a Fall
When we talk about needing ‘speed’ to age well, no, that’s not a nod to the 60s, nor does it mean that you need to give Usain Bolt a run for his money. Instead, it is the ability to react quickly for example getting a foot underneath you when you stumble and having the strength to support you when it lands.
Let’s pretend that you have tripped on the kerb, and you are toppling over. You want to have the ability and speed to get your foot in front of you and plant it firmly to stop yourself from falling. Then, you need eccentric strength to prevent yourself from collapsing on that foot. Eccentric strength means that your muscles are strong enough to control the movement as they lengthen. Think of them putting the brakes on. This allows you to decelerate smoothly and gradually, and preventing a sudden collapse onto that foot. If we have bad knees, weak ankles, or weak muscles recovering our balance may be harder and we might not have the power to push ourselves upright again.
What Can We Do?
Instead of being fearful of falling, train against it! Start training your balance now!
Guess what we do in yoga? Balance stuff. Poses on one leg. Poses on one arm. Poses on one leg and one arm. Poses with no legs and no arms.
But you can do your own bit too- when brushing your teeth stand on one leg, when you’re waiting for the bus stand on one leg– it might look strange, but who cares? If it’s too much for you, use a wall, hold on to a chair. If it’s too easy for you, try closing your eyes. Yoga builds balance, strength, coordination, endurance and the list goes on. But holding your balance is only part of the picture. Recovering it when you stumble is another skill, involving quick reactions and the ability to produce force quickly.
This is where eccentric strength come in. Eccentric muscle training is where the muscles are actively resisting a load as they are lengthening. E.g. Plank position then slowly bending the elbows and eccentrically lowering down halfway (to chaturanga dandasana). Or a split squat, slowly bending both knees to bring the back knee to hover off the floor.
We need to train our bodies to be strong. ALL our bits -knees, ankles, hips …. We need variation as each activity will enhance something slightly differently. Obviously, I’m suggesting yoga, because let’s face it – it is the most fun, but it would be narrow-minded of me to say that is all you should do. Instead, run, skip, walk, lift, swim, jump -do the whole shebang, but above all get strong and keep moving and of course - do some yoga – preferably with me.
*Heebie-jeebies originated in the early 20th century and is an American slang expression meaning a feeling of anxiety, fear, or discomfort. It was popularized by a comic strip by Billy DeBeck called "Barney Google" in the early 1920s.
*Tush is an abbreviation of the Yiddish term “tokhes”, which itself comes from Hebrew. In Hebrew, “tahat” means “beneath”.
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Photo by Birger Strahl on Unsplash
