Exercise muscles that help you get up off floor

#Middlebury #Seniors

With aging, we lose muscle. With all the staying home we’re doing now, we’re losing more muscle. We have to fight against that.

One serious result of losing muscle at our age is the simple task of getting up off the floor. It can happen to anybody our age: You look for something at the back of the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, and suddenly there you are, sitting on the kitchen floor, unable to get up.

Even if you can reach the phone to call for help, think about what happens next. The EMT crew will show up, but they won’t come rushing in. Not nowadays. Now they want to determine whether or not you’re likely to have the COVID virus. If there’s any risk at all, they’re likely to suit up with all their biohazard gear before they even come in the house.

The best way to avoid all that drama is to not lose those muscles and to know a few techniques for getting up again. Ordinarily I’d say to ask your senior center to hold a few classes on muscle building and how to get up off the floor. But it’s likely they’re closed. YouTube, however, never closes.

Put these search words into YouTube or even your browser: “seniors get off floor muscles.” Some specific YouTube channels you can search through for helpful exercises and techniques are “Eldergym Fitness for Seniors,” “Ernie Schramayr” and “Bob & Brad.” (These last two guys are physical therapists with a great sense of humor. In fact, click Videos and look through all their offerings.) When you find something you like, bookmark it.

Then, when you have the muscles and the technique, test it once a week. Get down on the floor, get up. Even if you’re certain you’d have no problems, test it anyway. With aging you never know.

© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.