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Playing Catch Can Improve Balance, Prevent Falls In Seniors

Our awesome PT, NCS, DPT, Katie Stout, shared this article with me, so I wanted to pass it along. Very interesting! Your thoughts?

“Research: Playing Catch Can Improve Balance, Prevent Falls In Seniors

The simple training exercise of catching a weighted medicine ball can improve balance and might help prevent falls in the elderly, according to recent research.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago reported findings from two studies on the websites of two journals: Electromyography and Kinesiology, and Experimental Brain Research.

When someone is jostled by a bump or a stumble, the brain uses two strategies to maintain balance and prevent a fall, according to Alexander Aruin, PhD, professor of physical therapy at UIC and principal investigator on the two studies.

‘When the perturbation is predictable, for example, if when walking down the street you see someone about to bump into you, you brace yourself,’ Aruin said in a news release. This is the first strategy, in which the brain activates muscles in anticipation of the jolt.” Read more…

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