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Exercise is also good for… avoiding falls!
Taking exercise can also help reduce the risk of a having a fall.
Sitting in your armchair is certainly not the way to spare your bones! A study conducted in Germany among women aged 65 and over provides a timely reminder of the benefit of exercise in avoiding falls: it promotes a sense of balance and consolidates the bones by increasing bone mass.
Around 300 women took part in this study. Half the group followed an exercise programme four times a week for 18 months. The other half did not do any form of exercise, focusing only on well-being and relaxation activities. At the end of the experiment, the “sporty” group were found to have a higher bone mineral density in the vertebrae and hips… this means the femoral neck, which is a strategic risk point for the human skeleton. Above all, their fall risk was 66% lower and, naturally, fractures were half as common.
This study recalls the results of other comparable research. In Australia, for example, more than 1,000 people aged 70 to 84 saw their fall risk decrease as a result of taking an hour’s exercise once a week for 4 months. So, what can you do to get moving … without even having to think about it? It’s really quite simple: walk to the supermarket instead of taking the car; go for a long walk in the park with your dog instead of taking a short stroll close to home; go and visit your friends instead of waiting for them to come to you; and, of course, cultivate your garden… in the real sense of the term!
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