Falling Friday - The Russian Trip

Wednesday, I graduated from my falls prevention class, part of the nationwide (yes, even worldwide), Stepping On program. 

But not quite with flying colors (no pun intended) as, early in the week, I tripped, catching the toe of my sandal on the rug in my place of employment. My manager wanted to talk to me, and I rushed over. Obviously, I wasn't practicing heel to toe walking, as I had been taught in my class.

And, I was rushing, another no-no I was taught about in my class.

"Don't rush and trip!", a co worker admonished me as I (almost) went flying by.  By the magic of my co-workers' sense of humor, that quickly was turned into the Russian Trip -something that I, obviously, have not yet mastered.

So, although I can not teach you the finer points of the Russian Trip, I can tell you that I plan to continue my Falling Friday feature for the next few weeks.

So today, instead of demonstrating the Russian Trip, I want to blog about something that will help prevent tripping - heel toe walking.  It's a great ankle exercise.

But, just walking from heel to toe, and making sure you don't shuffle your feet, is what we in our falls prevention class were encouraged to do.

Seniors tend to get into shuffling their feet, we were taught, for a number of reasons.  But it isn't just a matter of picking up your feet to prevent shuffling. Rather, shuffling happens BECAUSE of other factors.  Fear of falling.  Weak muscles.  Decreased balance.  Inability to feel in the soles of the feet.

Many of these factors can be addressed by a program such as Stepping On. And, once we exercise to strengthen our muscles (and continue to do so, after the class is over), we become more conscious of how we walk. 

Walk.  Keep on walking.  Keep on stepping.  And be sure to walk heel, toe, heel.