HOW TO FALL DOWN

Marcy Simon manages senior fitness programs at Asphalt Green, a nonprofit community health center with two New York City locations. She leads a Skills in Motion class to teach seniors fall prevention and best practices. (The cost: 20 one-hour sessions, free for members and $400 for nonmembers!) The course focuses on posture and gait work, as well as balancing, through games such as balloon volleyball to build spacial awareness, and soccer drills to increase the ability to stop and go quickly. Participants also practices falling. But if you’re going to fall, here are some handy tips:
– Land on the soft, fleshy parts of the body.
– Instinctive actions such as extending your hands straight out to break a fall, or stiffening the body, can actually increase the likelihood of injury, while a “tuck and roll” motion can help minimize impact.
– Think of yourself as a sack of potatoes (* Mmmmm…potatoes…), and just let your whole body go loose, hugging yourself, and letting yourself roll onto your butt while you’re falling. You can practice this on a soft, grassy place or even put a mattress pad on the floor.
– To avoid slipping while walking on ice, angle your feet outward 45 degrees to the side rather than straight ahead. It helps you keep yourself balanced over your core by widening your base and keeping yourself centered.
– Also, no shuffling – pick your feet up.
– Keep your hands out of your pockets because if they are in there, you can’t use then to catch yourself and you might hit your head.
– In addition to improving balance, it’s important to know how to recover in the event of a tumble. You don’t want anyone lifting you up by your shoulders, compromising your spine. You want to roll over on all fours and pull yourself back up to stand.
* And maybe think about cutting down on the drinking.
* I’ll be sure to keep all these things in mind on my way down to the asphalt.
* Land on the soft, fleshy parts of my body. Not a problem. Got all the angles covered.
* For complete safety, crawl everywhere.
* This reminds me of the joke about the lady who walked into a bank asking the teller to check her balance, so he pushes her over.