No, I haven't fallen. In fact, I'm much less afraid of falling since I started this Cross-Fit journey at Cross Fit Run-A-Muck.
Yet, it's something that stays in the back of my mind because I know how dangerous a fall can be for a woman of my age. An alarming number of people over sixty die of pneumonia or infection after a fall.
We've all heard the stories. One I heard was about a lady who fell in her garage. She didn't break anything, but she fell in such a way that she could not get herself into a position from which she could push herself up or grab hold of something to pull herself up. So she lay there more than 24 hours until someone realized she wasn't answering her phone. That's terrifying! And it happens way more than we'd like to believe.
Of course, other situations exacerbate the mobility problem. Watch a pregnant woman attempt to get off a couch. It's all about shifting the center of gravity. It's the same with an obese person. It's hard to get your legs under you when your belly is in the way. We also have to shift our gravity when our knees or hips are arthritic. When we become fearful that our knees or hips won't hold us, we tend to limit our activities. And that's a slippery slope to disability.
Some researchers and medical professionals claim they can predict the health and longevity of someone based on whether he or she can sit on the floor, then stand up again without using his or her hands or arms.
Go here to take the test.
That's all core and legs. We could all do it when we were kids without even thinking about it. Now, many of us have to scoot to the edge of the couch before we can leverage ourselves up to a standing position.
My Cross-Fit trainer, Josh Stayton, tells me the exercise I'm doing above is ideal for maintaining the ability get up off the floor, out of a chair or out of the car. It's called a STANDING STRAIGHT ARM LAT PULL DOWN. It works the Latissimus Dorsi, teres major and posterior deltoid. It is a shoulder extension exercise (partial scapular retraction).
Here's a picture of the muscles that are strengthened with this exercise:
In addition, the stomach muscles are engaged when this exercise is done. All these muscles...our core muscles...help us remain upright and pull ourselves up.
I can't get up off the floor yet without using my hands to boost myself up. But, I DO find it much easier to get off the couch and out of my little convertible. My goal is to get my core and back strong enough to get up from the floor hands free. It's fun to have a goal. And it's way more fun than worrying about falling and not being able to get back up again!
