By: Jill Springer, Executive Director, Woodstone of Hutchinson
Every winter, at least once, I slip and fall on the ice. In my 20’s, I’d pop right back up. In my 30’s, it started to get a little annoying. And now that I’m 40, I actually consider just staying on the ground for a few minutes while I allow my body time to adjust. Thankfully, I’ve never been injured, but every year it gets a little bit more difficult to bounce back from the fall.
As we age, it is important to change our normal fitness routine to include activities that improve balance and strength. We offer exercises 5 days a week and highly encourage our residents to participate. Some of our most common exercises to improve stability and strength include one-leg stands, marching in place, and the sit-to-stand. These are all easy exercises that you can do at home to help improve your balance as well!
Here’s Joni practicing her sit-to-stands. She knows how to make her daily exercises fun, and that keeps her coming back every morning! Betty Friedan once said, “Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” We could not agree more.