Catch Better Balance

As people age, they lose their anticipatory postural control – the ability to ready ourselves to maintain balance, and muscles are left unprepared, and we become less stable and more prone to falls.  Alexander Aruin, from the University of Illinois/Chicago (Illinois, USA), and colleagues enrolled 9 healthy older adults in a study that assessed their ability to stand and catch a medicine ball. The team measured the electrical activity of leg and trunk muscles, to ascertain the capacity to generate anticipatory postural adjustments before and after the ball-catching efforts. The study authors write that: “The observed training-related improvements of [anticipatory postural adjustments] suggest that [anticipatory postural adjustment]-focused rehabilitation could be effective in improving postural control, functional balance, mobility, and quality of life in the elderly.”