Do you have a fear of falling? Do you feel less steady than you used to? Many would say this is just a natural part of getting older, but there's a lot more to it than that.

You've probably heard of the "use it or lose it" principle in regards to health and fitness. It basically states that if you don't get enough physical activity, your heart, bones, and muscles will get weaker. This principle also applies to balance. If you don't regularly put your body in situations where it needs balance, your sense of balance will get worse. You are telling your brain and body, "Balance is not important to me." Your body will adapt to your lifestyle. The brain generally does not see any reason to keep certain capacities adept if those capacities are not being used very much.

After a certain age, many people start to move less and less. This usually happens after retirement. Take a minute and think about how much activity you get on a typical day compared to twenty years ago. Generally, as we get older, activities that involve a lot of movement (like sports, yard work, and playing with kids) are slowly replaced with activities that involve a lot of sitting (like reading, watching TV, playing cards, and going out to eat).

Here's the problem--movement requires balance, sitting does not. The activities you were doing when you were younger were not only keeping your heart, bones, and muscles strong--they were also keeping your balance in good shape. Over the years, as time spent moving decreased and time spent sitting increased, your sense of balance got less "exercise," which allowed it to deteriorate. Now here you are, years later, with a sense of balance that is a shadow of its former self.

The good news is that the "use it or lose it" principle is a two-way street. Everyone knows that you can train your heart and muscles to make them stronger. You can also train your balance as a part of active senior living lifestyle. Stay tuned for Part 2 in the series when we will examine a common ways to help with poor balance.

Mike Ross
Author of "The Balance Manual"
balance-exercises.com

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