Article
Practicing Fall Techniques Could Help Patients with Osteoporosis
Martial arts fall training may help osteoporosis patients as long as appropriate safety measures are taken, according to study results published in the open access journal BMC Research Notes.
Researchers observed the effects of fall training in six healthy young adults. Measurements were taken on the hip impact forces during the martial arts fall exercises. The results led researchers to conclude that the exercises would be safe for osteoporosis patients, if they wore “hip protectors that could attenuate the maximum hip impact force by at least 65%, perform the exercises on a thick mattress, and avoid forward fall exercises from a standing position.”
The exercises performed by the participants in the study included practicing MA falls “from a kneeling position on both a judo mat and a mattress as well as from a standing position on a mattress.” The subjects were instructed to bend and twist their trunks and necks to turn the fall into a rolling movement.
Martial arts fall training may help osteoporosis patients as long as appropriate safety measures are taken, according to study results published in the open access journal .
