Fall Prevention Month: Working on Your Posture

Falls can happen anywhere, anytime, and to anyone. But when an older person falls, the results can be life altering. Did you know that November is Fall Prevention Month in Canada? This annual initiative aims to raise awareness in preventing falls and fall-related injuries. (1)

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Falls are the leading cause of injury, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations for seniors in North America. The Public Health Agency of Canada has reported sobering statistics in this area:

• As we age, our risk of falling increases
• As does the likelihood that a fall will cause an injury
• Falls are the leading cause of injury among older Canadians
• 20-30% of seniors experience one or more falls each year
• Falls are the cause of 85% of seniors’ injury-related hospitalizations
• Falls are the cause of 95% of all hip fractures
• Half of all falls happen at home (2)

​So, how can older adults fall-proof their lives and their homes? You must realize I’ll be addressing exercise ideas for fall prevention. After all, I’ve published 6 books on the topic!

But first, let’s review non-exercise fall prevention tips:

• Improve lighting
• Reduce clutter
• Keep walking areas dry/clear (inside & outside)
• Secure or remove area rugs/mats
• Avoid sudden position changes
• Don’t skip meals
• Stay well hydrated
• Review medications every year
• Don’t mix alcohol with medications
• Talk to your doctor if you experience: dizziness, drowsiness, unsteadiness, blurred vision

What does posture have to do with fall prevention?
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Now that we’ve covered this list, let’s focus on your posture. When you sit or stand, are you a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point? And what, exactly, does posture have to do with fall prevention? Posture is a key component of fall prevention that may not come to mind for you. But don’t worry, you’re not alone—many people are not aware that their posture impacts their ability to prevent a fall. 

A stooped-over posture has you actively fighting gravity to prevent a momentum-based fall. If your standing position looks more like a question mark than an exclamation point and you trip over your foot or some unseen object, you are more likely to fall as gravity pulls your body forward. If your sitting position looks like a comma, it means your seated posture can still impact your ability to hold yourself in a safer, more upright position when you do get up to walk.

In this hunched-over position, your bones are not aligned, and you can’t support your body weight. Instead, your muscles and your connective tissue—the tendons that connect muscles to bones and ligaments that connect bones to each other—have been assigned a role that’s normally reserved for your bones. Eventually, these muscles, tendons, and ligaments declare a strike because they already have a job to do. They don’t want a second job. It’s like asking the widget makers to also make sprockets; they’d rather stick to making widgets and let the sprocket makers make the sprockets.

Think of your body as a finely-tuned, highly specialized assembly line. Every part of our body is designed for its specialty. If you don’t use all the parts in the right way, they’ll stop functioning. In the case of movement, if you’re going to keep moving, other parts will have to jump in and help. And that’s when you risk falling. 
It’s not too late to start. Your body has an incredible feedback loop of action-reaction. If you begin to work your muscles and load your bones, your body will respond. But if you don’t use them, you will lose them.

It takes approximately 100 muscles working together to maintain good posture. These muscles need to be strong to hold your body upright. Two exercises that can begin your posture work are active sitting and active standing.

Active Sitting

Active sitting helps us load our muscles and bones to fight the effects of gravity. Instead of outsourcing the role of our muscles by slumping in our seats, we should sit tall. 
To start: Begin by sitting in a kitchen or dining room chair that has a firm seat.

1. Shifting forward: Slide your bottom forward so you’re not leaning back in the chair, or slide your bum to the back of the chair so your back is in contact with the backrest. Place both feet flat on the floor in front of you. If your legs are shorter and you can’t touch the floor, you can place a large book or block on the floor to support your feet. Don’t roll onto your tailbone. Imagine you have a tail and you want the tail behind you so you can wag it. Often, people roll backwards so they’re resting on their tailbone instead of their sit bones — these are the bony part of your bum, the lower edge of your pelvis.
2. Shoulder position: Drop your shoulders away from your ears. It should feel like you're letting them slide down your back.
3. Head position: Pull your head and neck back so your ears are sitting over your shoulders, not pushed forward. Your head is now positioned over your centre of gravity, which is allowing you to strengthen your bones by loading them. Feel your muscles and bones at work. 

Aim for five minutes of active sitting every hour.
Do you need to make it easier? Start with two minutes of active sitting.
Are you ready to make it harder? Try for 10 minutes of active sitting every hour.

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​Active Standing

Active standing allows us to align our bones while strengthening our muscles and bones in the process. Active standing should feel like work. Your muscles are working together to hold you upright. This is a more effective way to stand, instead of dropping into your heels and hips. Resist the pull of gravity! 
For this exercise, you can remove your shoes if you’re willing to be bare foot.
To start: Stand up. 

1. Foot position: Imagine a triangle under each foot. Instead of sinking backwards onto your heels and dropping into your hips, engage your entire foot by transferring more weight forward and across the width of your foot. Your toes and heels on both feet should be pointing forwards, not turned in or out.
2. Arm position: Allow your arms to hang smoothly at the sides of your body, not behind or in front of your torso. Your palms should be touching your thighs, not facing backwards.
3. Shoulder position: Drop your shoulders away from your ears. It should feel like you're letting them slide down your back.
4. Head position: Pull your head and neck back so your ears are sitting over your shoulders, not pushed forward. Your head is now positioned over your centre of gravity, which is allowing you to strengthen your bones by loading them. Feel your muscles and bones at work. Aim for five minutes of active standing every hour.

Do you need to make it easier? Start with two minutes of active standing.
Are you ready to make it harder? Try for 10 minutes of active standing every hour.

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Ready for more exercises to work on your posture? All of my books are available for sale on Amazon. Visit my author page to find links to and purchase your copy today:  http://amazon.com/author/amandasterczyk. 

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References:
1. https://www.fallpreventionmonth.ca/
2. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/aging-seniors/publications/publications-general-public/you-prevent-falls.html