HikeArizona.COM

TL;DR As we age, our reflexes slow. This makes recovering from a slip more difficult. (And therefore, the likelihood of falling from a slip greater.)
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I took my 90-year old widow friend to PT today. The therapists had her do some off-balance recovery exercises.

I asked the therapist if we (older folk) fall more because we're weaker. She said it was more "timing."

So I searched the 'net. To my amazement, our govt has produced a competent study measuring the difference in arm and shoulder response to slips in young ppl vs old ppl.

Unsurprisingly, the response time in older people to a slip is about 1/10th of second slower than young people. So I'm farther into a fall before I start to recover.

Also young people move their arms differently and more vigorously than old people in an attempt to break their fall.

Falls are the fourth leading cause of death in old age, but it's only been recently that you have begun to hear about prevention. I used to attend a church with a very mature congregation and the pastor got up to give announcements and said that one of our elderly widows had just fallen for the second time in 6 months and was at TMC. The audible gasp from the congregants was telling, they knew what was on the horizon for the woman. Sure enough, by year's end she was gone.

I'm tall & klutzy and half of my hiking injuries have come from falls. I make sure I do balance exercises on a regular basis.

There's an anecdotal test to find how much longer one will live which is based on how quickly/easily one can get up off the floor.

I doubt that there's a direct relationship between getting off of floor and when your heart quits. I think the "test" is more reflective of overall strength and balance, the lack of either implying that one is more likely to fall and then die from that injury.

(I used to be able to stand up from the floor from a crossed leg position. I can't anymore. But I've been trying again, and have been almost able to do it again. But that's not making my heart stronger.)

After learning about why we oldsters fall from slips, I've started doing some balance exercises. (And am glad that I stopped relying on trekking poles during my training hikes. I can tell that my balance has become much better since.) I didn't think that one could improve their reflexes, since that's a spinal cord thing. But in this case, it's not really a reflex, per se, as the signals have to go back and forth from the ankles and vestibular/visual to correct. So I'm working at 1) detecting off balance condition sooner and 2) reacting with greater amplitude.

Been blessed to not have fallen on a hike so far. But I expect my time will come. (The art is knowing when to quit before that major-ly happens.)