Training for speed as we age

[fatkat555]

So one of the things I’ve read about is how we can train for strength as we age, but that we inevitably lose speed aka reaction time.

Does anyone have any experience that counters this belief? Have you successfully improved speed and agility as you age? I’m curious about this because I feel there’s a balance component with speed and agility as well and wonder if I should be focusing more on the fancy footwork instead of avoiding it.

[Terry]

I deleted this because I think I went off in the wrong direction from what you asked.

[Terry]

My recent agility training hasn’t improved anything. Maybe I’m not doing enough

[Leonana]

Originally Posted by fatkat555

So one of the things I’ve read about is how we can train for strength as we age, but that we inevitably lose speed aka reaction time.

Does anyone have any experience that counters this belief? Have you successfully improved speed and agility as you age? I’m curious about this because I feel there’s a balance component with speed and agility as well and wonder if I should be focusing more on the fancy footwork instead of avoiding it.

I don't know if it counts, but I'm able to catch myself when I trip on something, and not fall. I attribute that to balance moves. But I guess it's reaction time too?

Although, I drop things more often, and don't catch them in time, before glass falls on my ceramic tile floor!

[warriorprincess]

I've heard that it's the loss of speed that contributes to falls, as we aren't able to catch ourselves in time. Then the immobilization due to the fall causes muscle atrophy pretty quickly, which is really really hard to grow back when you're older. Falls are the cause of so much pain and frailty that we don't recover from. So it makes sense to train it as much as we can. It's why I still step, dance, and do the dreadful HIIT training. I wish I enjoyed running, but it's never going to happen.

[Gams]

I try hard to be more mindful of everything I do instead of thinking ahead about the next thing coming up, hoping that will help prevent tripping. Last winter we had so much snow that I couldn’t get my gate open and I had to climb over my fence. I wasn’t crazy about that but I paid very close attention to each move I made.

The other thing I want to pay closer attention to is remembering the best way to land when you do fall. AARP had a really good article about the best way to land to prevent injury depending on the type of fall. I have the article somewhere and I need to dig it out and memorize it. Some things are tougher to do because they go against your normal reflexes. But falling is a real threat here in the winter - you can step on what looks like a little dusting of snow on the sidewalk, but there may be a sheet of ice underneath and when your feet go flying out from underneath you, you can’t stop that. At that point, you try to land in a way that will cause the least amount of damage.

I haven’t fallen in a long time and I want to keep it that way.

[Negin]

Originally Posted by Gams

AARP had a really good article about the best way to land to prevent injury depending on the type of fall.

I wonder if it's any of these. They all look helpful, and I'm going to read them. Jane Adams DVDs should be helpful in this area.

The Art of Falling Safely

The Safest Way to Get Up From a Fall

10 Foot Exercises for Balance and Stability

Striking a Balance to Avoid Dangerous Falls

10 Tips to Help Make Your Home Fall-Proof and Hazard-Free

[prettyinpink]

I think what you’re talking about is known as “power training”. If you Google that in relation to older adults, you’ll find a lot of articles. There are studies showing that some loss of muscle power is inevitable, and that it declines faster than muscle strength, but training for strength and power has promising results.

For older adults, some of the fitness sites are talking about using weight machines to do faster reps at a lower rate, and to emphasize a faster concentric movement and slower eccentric. For people with joints that can handle it, training for power would involve things like jumping and quick changes in direction.

[Leonana]

I’ve also seen power training with a large ball, slamming it on the floor.

[Lannette]

I’ve been putting together some ideas for adding power into my workout schedules. Power is what gets us out of a chair. You need power to initiate a sprint.

Cathe’s blog has quite a few articles on the subject.

There’s a selection here. Not every one applies but several do.

https://cathe.com/?s=Training+for+power+

Originally Posted by prettyinpink

I think what you’re talking about is known as “power training”. If you Google that in relation to older adults, you’ll find a lot of articles. There are studies showing that some loss of muscle power is inevitable, and that it declines faster than muscle strength, but training for strength and power has promising results.

For older adults, some of the fitness sites are talking about using weight machines to do faster reps at a lower rate, and to emphasize a faster concentric movement and slower eccentric. For people with joints that can handle it, training for power would involve things like jumping and quick changes in direction.

Originally Posted by Leonana

I’ve also seen power training with a large ball, slamming it on the floor.