{"id":595352,"date":"2026-09-09T21:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T21:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/595352\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T21:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T21:04:17","slug":"at-57-these-are-the-exercises-im-doing-to-prevent-falls-in-later-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/595352\/","title":{"rendered":"At 57, these are the exercises I\u2019m doing to prevent falls in later life"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m bounding across the gym, springing as far as I can with every great leap. Then I\u2019m dashing up and down, sprinting as fast as I can. Why am I flinging myself around the room at 57, as if my life depends on it? Because, in a way, it does. I want to reduce my risk of a fall<\/a> in my 80s.<\/p>\n

Most of us know that we should strength train to ward off age-related muscle loss<\/a>. Yet there is another physical ability that drains away with the years, and it\u2019s even more critical than muscle strength in preventing falls and fractures in later life \u2013 power. Power requires strength but relates to how fast you can move.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crucial because the faster you can right yourself if you trip over the cat, the less likely you are to fall flat and crack a hip. Jon Roberts, technical director at Evolution Longevity clubs, says: \u201cPower\u2019s all about speed of reaction.\u201d He adds: \u201cWith falls, as you lose your balance \u2013 how quickly can you react to that loss of balance? That\u2019s what prevents falls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Power is the reason why, in midlife, my fitness regime includes not just slow, controlled muscle-building exercises, like deadlifts, but also speedy, springy movements that require sudden bursts of force.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference between a strength exercise versus a power exercise is that for power, you\u2019re using less weight, but using speed as your added resistance,\u201d says Roberts.<\/p>\n

Jumping in midlife could prevent a broken hip<\/p>\n

I learnt the critical importance of power two years ago, at 55, when a private bone scan at Evolution revealed I had osteoporosis<\/a>. Two years on, my power moves \u2013 part of three-times-weekly targeted strength training sessions with an Evolution PT \u2013 have significantly increased my bone density. \u201cPower creates torsion on the bones,\u201d says Jon Roberts. \u201cPowerful movement puts a force on the bones which can help strengthen them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But along with stronger bones, I can now sprint for the bus with a solid chance of staying upright if I trip. Sarcopenia makes headlines, yet evidence shows that motor power capacity reduces faster with age than muscle strength, and that this loss of power is more strongly associated with reduced function and age-related decline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m bounding across the gym, springing as far as I can with every great leap. Then I\u2019m dashing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[10791,3248,565,134,10483,111,139,69,1177,6494,25212,8781],"class_list":["post-595352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-ageing","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-health-and-fitness","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-standard","tag-strength-training","tag-top-story","tag-workouts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}