Driving and Senior Balance Exercises

Senior Balance Exercises For Increased Stability

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

  As we age, our body naturally progresses through changes that can affect driving as well as stability with walking and could require practicing senior balance exercises. Please see more information at  http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now In our later years, our body experiences changes including decreased vision. Our vision diminishes with both acuity and with peripheral distinctions. Furthermore, in our later years our body experiences decreases in reaction times with our muscle movements. As a result of the decreased vision and slower reaction times, many older individuals may have more difficulties with safely driving a car.  As a matter of fact, older adults who have experienced a fall may have an increase in the fear of falling as well as an overall decrease and steadiness which can hamper their driving abilities. Other factors that relate to driving include cognitive processing. Many senior citizens have a more difficult time with decision-making in a short period of time which is an aspect of driving. Driving requires a complex set of sensory inputs, cognitive processing and motor responses. For aging individuals, visual sensory input diminishes, speed of processing in the brain slows down and response times for the muscles to react are also delayed.   For those in the aging population, they can improve their reaction times and overall stability by practicing senior balance exercises on a regular basis.

Senior Balance Exercises and Safe Driving

     Older individuals experience significant changes in their cognitive and physical function with age and are encouraged to rehearse certain senior balance exercises as part of a physical fitness program. One such equilibrium exercise that older adults can practice involves tandem walking. With tandem walking, the individual walks along  a line in a heel to toe manner. During tandem walking, you will notice that your ankles are wobbling a bit. Tandem walking, Consequently,  will challenge the balance reactions at the feet and ankles and increase the speed of reaction time in the lower leg muscles that will help with overall steadiness. Having faster reactions in your muscles will help improve overall steadiness with walking as well as increase response times with other activities like driving.  You can rehearse tandem walking and other senior balance exercises in the comfort of your own home by joining in with the instruction of a qualified physical therapist in the exercise for balance DVD

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

    To for older individuals to enhance stability with walking or increase safety with driving, get started on a course of the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The healthcare provider recommended Exercise For Balance DVD is a high quality instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The easy to understand and simple to follow Exercise For Balance DVD includes  a step by step series of the latest balance and strength exercises necessary to optimize senior fitness and to carry out basic daily activities like shopping, doing laundry,  walking, standing, cleaning house, stair climbing or to advance to more difficult pursuits like skiing, dancing, playing golf and hiking. In the  comprehensive Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve stability, how to apply steadiness techniques and how to safely execute balance routines from a  qualified balance specialist --- licensed Physical Therapist---who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 25 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

Be safe on the road by starting balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.
For more information see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/