Having enough agility and quickness in your daily life is incredibly important for overall function and fall reduction. Because of this, I typically like to program different exercises for the seniors I work with that target moving your body quickly to practice overall agility and coordination in space. This article, in addition to the video above, will help to outline a few of the agility exercise that you can do to help you to reduce the risk of falls.

Agility Drills for Seniors – Ball Drop Exercise

The exercises that we will be completing today are all variations of a ball drop exercise. If you need to purchase a ball for yourself like the one in the video, check out the link below for the one we use. Otherwise, you can also use a tennis ball or other bouncy ball. For all of these exercise, you will complete them 10-15 times or until you get tired and need a break. If you get confused about the exercise description, you can follow along the video above.

Lacrosse Ball: https://amzn.to/3bEeKnh

Ball Drop

For the ball drop exercise, you will start standing. Next, you will extend your arm out in front of you as far as possible. Then, drop the ball, and quickly reach forward with your body to catch the ball. Repeat on both legs.

Shallow Drop

The shallow drop is the same movement as the first one, except that you will drop the ball much lower than before. Doing this will require you to bend over more, which helps to change the balance aspect and work your back and core muscles.

Angled Drop

The angled drop will add a bit of complexity, because we are changing the direction we are stepping. For the angled drop, extend your arm out at a 45 degree angle to the side. You will then complete the same drop and catch you have done with the first two exercises.

Side Drop

For the side drop, you will place your hand directly to the side of your body, and drop the ball from this direction. If you are able to, try not to look at the ball before you drop it. This will increase the difficulty greatly.

Eyes Closed Drop

The eyes closed drop is the same exercise as the standard ball drop from the start. The main difference is that you will keep your eyes closed until you hear the ball hit the ground, before you step out to catch it. This drill is very challenging and will work your coordination and agility greatly.

These are just a few of many great agility exercise for seniors. Try a few out, and keep practicing for better balance and agility!

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