Researchers find simple exercise can reduce fall risk for older women

Exercise It may help reduce the risk of falls – a leading cause of injuries in older adults – but only four per cent of older Canadian women complete 30 minutes of daily physical activity. As a PhD candidate in Health and Exercise Sciences at Concordia University, I am interested in developing fun and accessible balance-training programs using online dance Classes.

Dancing can serve as a fun “exercise in disguise.” Studies have consistently shown that dance can inspire social interactions, improve mood and aid cognition, as well as improve mobility, stamina and walking abilities.

It is also an ideal form of balance training because learning different dance steps requires high precision of movement, which can help increase our proprioception (our perception of our body’s movement and position in space). This can help improve or maintain our postural stability.

Age and Postural Stability

Postural stability refers to our ability to stay upright and control our body’s position in space. This ability depends on sensory and motor systems. Our vision helps to see potential obstacles or tripping hazards, the vestibulocochlear system of the inner ear helps with our sense of orientation as well as hearing, and finally our somatosensory system, which includes the body’s sense of touch, pain, temperature, and position, works to sense the surfaces beneath our feet.

After these sensory signals reach the brain, they are sorted and then the appropriate motor response is selected for our musculoskeletal system to execute.

With age, postural stability decreases as sensory systems experience changes. We measure this fall by having people stand as still as possible and seeing how much they sway or bend. If someone moves more, they are considered less stable and at greater risk of falling.

While research on in-person dance classes of various styles has consistently shown improvements in posture stability and fall risk, these classes are often out of reach. Many older women face barriers to exercise such as lack of transportation, caregiving roles at home, inaccessible exercise facilities, etc. Additionally, specialized dance teachers are often found only in larger cities that serve as dance centers. Online dance classes may provide solutions to reduce barriers and improve access for older adults.

bringing the dance studio home

Working with Andreas Bergdahl, PhD, and Mary Roberts, PhD, our research was published International Journal of Exercise Science have found that online dance classes improve postural stability, dynamic balance, and calf strength in older women. In this work, we recruited women aged 65+ from Montreal to participate in 75-minute ballet-modern inspired classes twice per week for 12 weeks over Zoom.

Each dance class began with a 15-minute warm-up:

These exercises were selected because they emphasize transferring weight, balancing on one leg, bringing the body away from center, and contracting the core muscles along with the legs. A facilitator was present on Zoom for each dance class to help with technical support and monitor online participants for safety.

Before the first class, halfway through the study, and at the end, participants completed individual assessments of their leg strength, dynamic balance, and postural stability.

Within six weeks, participants noticed an increase in how much they swayed side to side while standing still (called mediolateral swing) and an increase in their dynamic balance. By the end of the program, they also had greater calf muscle strength, which was assessed by the number of heel raises participants could do in 30 seconds.

Improving these abilities can lead to greater ease of daily activities that require weight transfer, such as walking, walking off the sidewalk, or even chores like sweeping the house.

Benefits of online access

Even after the COVID-19 lockdown ends, online dance classes can play an important role in reaching out to those who have been traditionally underserved.

For people living in remote locations, for caregivers who can’t spend too much time away from loved ones or even for older adults eager to walk on snowy roads in the winter, online programs can provide new opportunities for social access and exercise. They also give people the opportunity to express themselves creatively from the comfort of their homes.

Our current studies are exploring how different styles of online dance programs combined with blood flow restriction training may benefit older adults. This provides more options to suit people’s interests and varying mobility needs. Additionally, we are working to share our programs with communities. To date, our research has reached older women in Canada, Mexico, Colombia and Spain, encouraging them to stay active and independent.

While many of us have returned to in-person programming, let’s not forget the benefits of online access. Bringing a dance studio home can still help people connect, socialize and improve their balance.