This training prevents falls in old age

Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for

More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.

Sure-footed in old age: Regular exercise training lowers the risk of falling and thus the risk of injury for seniors - and that significantly. Some exercises are more effective at doing this than others.

A wrong step on the sidewalk, a trip over the edge of the carpet: the risk of falling increases with age. Every third person over 65 years of age ends up in hospital once a year because of a fall - sometimes with broken bones and long hospital stays.

Those who move tend to fall less often

But that doesn't have to be the case, as a current analysis shows. Because a regular exercise program can prevent falls and the resulting injuries. This has been shown by an evaluation of 108 different studies. Professor Catherine Sherrington from the University of Sydney School of Medicine had data from a total of 23,407 study participants with an average age of 76 years.

In 81 of the studies available, the seniors were divided into two groups: a sports group and a control group who did not move more than normal. The results show that regular exercise reduced the likelihood of falling by almost a quarter.

Exercise also reduced the number of people who experienced one or more falls in a year by 15 percent. 480 per 1000 seniors fell in the control group. In the sports group there were 72 fewer people.

Balance and stretching exercises for more surefootedness

"Different forms of training had different effects on the risk of falling," the researchers write. Balance and stretching exercises reduced the risk of falling by 24 percent. In combination with light resistance exercises - for example with a terraband - even by 34 percent. This form of training was the best way to protect the elderly from falls.

According to Sherrington and colleagues, one way to train these three components is tai chi. But they also recommend dance training or special courses for seniors who train balance, flexibility, coordination and muscles.

Special courses for seniors

One example is the pilot program “Surefooted Through Life” of the social security for agriculture, forestry and horticulture. In five federal states, seniors have been able to attend six-week courses since 2017, which include such training units and are intended to maintain safe mobility. The costs for the course are usually covered by health insurance companies. Further information is available at www.trittSAFE.org.

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