By Fox Rehab

What is mobility? Mobility is how a person moves throughout their day-to-day life. Mobility is essential to a healthy lifestyle and optimizing independence. It includes everything from walking down a city street, using a walker for apartment access, or using a wheelchair throughout a home–it can look different for everyone throughout all stages of life. 

The Importance of Maintaining Mobility 

Maintaining mobility can help keep muscles and bones strong, maintain proper joint movement, and reduce stiffness. As people age, mobility can be affected, but that does not mean it changes all together. Throughout the aging process, muscle changes can begin to affect a person’s functional ability. Muscles are made of fibers; throughout the aging process the number of fibers begins to decrease, the size of the fibers begins to decrease, and the force in which they work decreases.  Loss of muscle strength can affect gait speed, posture, balance, and increase a patient’s risk of falling. Bone density can also be affected as people age, which can result in loss of height, hunched posture, and joint pain. But enough with the bad news–let’s discuss what can be done to maintain muscle strength and mobility. 

Tips to Maintain Mobility  

There are various ways that a person’s mobility can be maintained. As mentioned before, mobility looks different for everyone which also means the way a person maintains mobility will be different from person to person. The most important thing is figuring out what activity you love to do and having fun while working to maintain mobility.  

• Going for a walk can help maintain gait speed, which has been largely called the sixth vital sign. Gait speed is vital in maintaining independence and functional mobility.   
• Stretching routines can reduce tightness throughout muscles and help with proper movement. If you find yourself sitting often throughout the day, a lower body stretching routine can help reduce stiffness and promote proper joint movement.  
• Resistance training has been largely found to help increase bone density. Resistance training can be performed with resistance bands or with free weights in various sitting or standing positions to align with your abilities. Resistance training can be adapted to any functional level and any starting level.  
• Balance training is a great way to not only reduce fall risk but increase stability with various tasks. Balance training can be performed in multiple positions depending on an individual’s functional level, whether that is standing in a lunge position, or in an unsupported sitting position.  
• Proper posture is vital to maintaining mobility. If a person starts to present in a hunched posture, it can affect upper neck and shoulder mobility. Posture training can incorporate strengthening postural muscles in the back and stretching muscles in the chest and neck.  
• Nutrition is another key component to maintaining mobility. A sufficient protein intake is important to maintain muscle mass. Protein rich foods include eggs, chicken, beans, lentils, and yogurt, to name a few.  

Performing activities to maintain mobility does not have to be boring or a chore; the best results will come from any activity that you love and enjoy doing! 

A significant barrier that prevents many people from starting to exercise is the persistence of stereotypes about aging. Many people believe that because they are getting older there is no point in exercising or addressing mobility deficits because it is not going to get better. However, throughout my time as a physical therapist, I have seen how all the activities above have increased various patients’ mobility and improved their quality of life. Another common stereotype is that exercise can be too intense or even dangerous for the older adult population. But almost any activity can be modified and tailored to a specific person’s functional ability and activity level, so they can safely complete exercise.  With this information, I hope you feel empowered to start or continue to address your physical mobility. Maintaining mobility means you can maintain independence, reduce fall risk, and live the life you want! 

Please note: Before starting any new exercise routine or making significant lifestyle or dietary changes, it’s important to consult with your physician.