The logic of public health officials seems to be “what’s the minimum passive intervention we can use to help the most people”. For preventing falls in seniors, the strategy is routine doctor visits, reduce tripping hazards in the home and exercise.

This logic completely strips away your sense of agency and seems to be the first step before you end up in a nursing home. When you turn 65, start making life safer and safer until you’re so disabled that you need 24/7 care.

How to take fall risk into your own hands.

Since the day you are born, you are eligible to die. There is no way to reduce all risk. The best you can do as an individual is to prepare for life’s challenges, and the only insurance policy against a life changing fall is to become brutally strong – at any age.

Until the end of life, your body, no matter how weak you feel, has the ability to rebuild itself. If you’re reading this, you have the agency to change what life after 65 looks like.

Keep all your rugs on the floor, leave the house when it’s icy and find a good strength training coach that has experience with senior strength training.Your life could look different in a few months, but it requires you to work hard. For my clients, the hard work is worth it.