Make Sure Not to Skip Elderly Leg Day

One thing that really kills me in the old people industry is the lack of exercise elderly people receive. There is a real worry about elderly people falling. Or having an injury from exercising too much.

Yet our plan to keep elderly safe by keeping them in a chair all day doesn’t seem to be working out to well:

• In 2020, 14 million older adults reported falling, according to the CDC

• In 2023, more than one in four older adults reported experiencing a fall

• In 2023, 41,400 people aged 65 and older died from falls

• In 2022, over 3.5 million people were treated in emergency rooms for fall-related injuries

• The number of fall-related deaths has increased by 53% over the past 10 years 

• The cost of elderly falls is projected to increase to over $101 billion by 2030 

So maybe it’s time to take a different approach.

We have very few falls in our assisted living homes. I’m very much convinced it’s because we have personal trainers working with our residents several times a week.

We do a combination of balance exercises, strength exercises and walking, residents health permitting.

Obviously if they’re bed bound we are greatly limited in what we can do.

It would seem at first glance if the residents are all up and walking around the fall chances increase.

I’m thinking the opposite. The more they work on balance and leg strength, the less chance they have of falling. And the more chance they have of enjoying life.

That doesn’t mean we have squat racks with hundreds of pounds of weight that our elderly folks are using.

It does mean they can do squats while holding on to bars in our hallways.

Or it means they can stand on a vibration plate.

They can also do calf raises. Or some light deadlifting if their back allows. Or just walking both forwards and backwards.

There are many benefits to leg day:

• It strengthens your core - we haven’t developed a 6-pack on any residents but we’re working on it!

• Reduces lower back pain - even deadlifts can do this

• Larger muscles like legs encourage more hormone release when worked - something sorely lacking in the elderly

• Burns more calories - the larger muscles need more energy to work. And your heart has to work harder to supply them with blood, strengthening your heart at the same time

• Improve the stamina of the elderly

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of wanting to make grandma ‘safe and happy’. I’m thinking grandma still wants to live life on her terms. Until the day she dies. Not just sit in a chair all day watching TV.

Sticking with leg days each week will help her enjoy the life she wants. Hopefully it will help keep her out of the hospital, or a nursing home or assisted living, for as long as possible!