Athletes know the importance of daily practice of their sport and working on every component of their performance. This pursuit of optimal performance is just as important for seniors when it comes to maintaining your independence and abilities, and this idea of targeted training can focus your time and efforts. 

An individual will show the greatest improvement in a specific action when they train their muscles in a manner that closely simulates that activity. In addition, desirable adaptations occur only in muscles that are recruited during an exercise session, with little or no adaptive changes occurring in other muscles. Just imagine how different the core and leg muscles work in standing versus in sitting?

This idea of “specificity of training” has also been a consistent theme in research routines for fall prevention. In many of the successful study protocols, the exercises included functional movements such as: 

Lunges;

Squats;

Side stepping, and 

Tandem walking.

These are activities that become difficult for many seniors, but improve with specific training. 

To start easy and introduce a functional exercise, an older adult can limit the range of motion, use support of a counter or helper,  then hold that position for 10-20 seconds (see photo). This should be repeated on each side for 1-2 repetitions to start. This will gradually reeducate and strengthen the muscles without having to complete the entire movement.