The Characteristic of Upright Balance in Elderly and Methodology of the Coaching:Background of “Disturbance and Adaptation Theory”

The research for improving the health and motor control in elderly people is one of the mostly encouraged matters in the society today.Balance control abilities in the elderly decrease very quickly to 20%³0% at about the 70years of age, compared with the 20samong all of the items in physical fitness test.“Disturbance-Balance Adaptation Theory”was introduced for improving balance control, walking performance and also protecting from falling.In a case of sudden and unexpected‘disturbance (cf.:horizontal shift) 'is given to the upright standing, the joints will be fixed tentatively by the‘Co-contraction'of the antagonists.The risk of falls will increase due to hardly use‘step strategy'.Changing postural control manner to the‘Reciprocal-contraction'quickly is need for protecting from falling.Based on our studies, a special device named as‘human shift board apparatus' was introduced for balance training and also for protection from falling.Training effects of balance control by walking program and Taichi were introduced as examples of“self-disturbance”.