Dog walking combines forward motion with sudden, unpredictable forces. For older adults, a strong or reactive dog can quickly pull the body outside its base of support. Training balance and reaction time specifically for these forces is essential for fall prevention and long-term independence.
How to Train for Dog Walking? Do Senior Bosu Balance Exercises!
Bosu Balance Training for Seniors -Learn an exercise to train to Walk Your Dog for lifestyle specific training.
Senior Bosu balance exercises are a priority in exercise selection and learning how to train for dog walking, just like sport-specific training is for athletes. Take specific daily life tasks such as dog walking, for example. Walking a dog is definitely an active lifestyle choice for many people. Like any activity, there are varying degrees of difficulty that present a conditioning effect for the participant (and for the dog!).
You need to be reasonably fit to walk a large dog.
According to the CDC, falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults, particularly during everyday activities that involve balance challenges and unexpected forces.
Recently, I hosted an older woman in my fitness retreat residence for a 3-week functional strength program where we practiced Senior Bosu balance exercises. As a slim and slightly built woman, she didn’t expect the exercise program to begin with a focus on core activation. She was happy with her weight but lacked the strength to walk her dog without fear of falling. Although she had lived a fit lifestyle most of her life, she had been recently sedentary.
Her Labrador retriever was only 2 years old and would abruptly pull in random directions. The goal of being able to walk the dog twice daily without fear of falling was her primary concern. Volumes of available literature endorse the idea of getting a house dog for an older adult to avoid the pitfalls of living alone in a sedentary lifestyle. True, a dog is a great motivation in getting out for daily exercise. The dog is eager to do so even when the owner is reluctant. However, an older adult needs to be reasonably fit in order to handle a large, strong dog such as a Labrador retriever.
Senior Bosu Balance Exercise – How to Train to Walk Your Dog – You need to be reasonably fit to walk a large dog.
Her perfect Senior Bosu Balance Exercise solution began with the Bosu Balance Trainer, stability ball, and TRX.
My client loved her dog. However, stressful times had caused her to fall into a sedentary pattern. She also felt that going out on walks without her beloved dog seemed “selfish” and inappropriate. Yet the risks in handling the dog were too great. Her perfect fitness solution began with the Bosu Balance Trainer, stability ball, and TRX. Fall prevention is key for older adults. Indeed, Bosu Balance Exercise training brings about rapid results.
Bosu Balance Training for Seniors – How to Train for Dog Walking starts with dynamic balance.
Sharpening her corrective reflexes on the Bosu, activating, and strengthening her core on the stability ball progressed her in a few short weeks. We also focused on TRX pulling exercises for core control that would strengthen the back, core, and arm.
Dog Walking Challenge Drill
I improvised a dog walking challenge drill by having her stand on the Bosu Balance Trainer while holding a long rope with which I randomly applied resistance. My unpredictable tugging in various directions simulated the resistance on her dog’s leash. The unpredictable reactive forces in walking a large dog can train multiple aspects of fitness from dynamic balance, core control with total body participation. Every muscle group involves resisting, pulling, redirecting, and decelerating. Sport-specific training applies when lifestyle training is specific enough for a fit dog walker!
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