Reason number 73 why I love my job: I had a client this morning who started training with me about a year ago at the end of her recovery from an elbow that was so badly broken she got a replacement. She broke the elbow from a fall where she just caught her foot on a curb and wasnt able to right herself. She had had a number of falls prior to that, with that one being the most devastating. My suspicion (she agrees, as does her massage therapist - in fact it might have been his observation first) is that the reason for her falling is related to hip flexor weakness on one side that she has had for a good 30 years - she has a hard time lifting that leg. Today she informed me that last week she was walking down that same street and caught her foot again on a curb, but this time as she felt herself falling, she got her foot out in time and...didnt fall! Needless to say she was thrilled, and Im thrilled. I cant isolate one thing that has been the key contributor to her now being able to catch herself, but my suspicion is that its mostly the agility ladder drills. Yup, I have 60+ clients doing agility ladder drills. Why? Because I want their brain and body to be used to moving fast - something this demographic rarely does - so that when they are in a position where they might fall, their body knows what to do because they do it on a regular basis. Ive heard trainers suggest that agility ladder work is a waste of time for their athlete clients (thought process is that people either have or dont have quick feet - ladders not going to change that). I still like the ladder for athletes but acknowledge it may not be increasing foot speed much. But I LOVE it for seniors, and I am 100% convinced it does develop foot speed in that population. Or maybe the better term is that it rediscovers foot speed in that population.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 17:40:10 +0000
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