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# The program that cut falls by a third, at a kitchen chair
- URL: https://the-health-brief.ghost.io/the-program-that-cut-falls-by-a-third-at-a-kitchen-chair/
- Published: 2026-09-23T14:00:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T14:00:58.000Z
- Description: Seven trials, 1,503 people, average age 81 and a half.
- Author: Walt Brennan

| Method of the week The average person in these trials was 81 and a half. That is the first thing worth knowing about it. Most exercise research gets done on people who were already doing something. Not this one. The Otago program came out of New Zealand, and it was built for exactly the people who get told they are past exercising. It runs at home. It uses a chair and a counter… and it has been tested harder than almost anything else in this corner of medicine. A quick question · tap to answer Do you know anyone who broke a bone in a fall? Tap one. A ready-to-send reply opens, just press send. [Yes](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Fall%20break%3A%20yes&body=Yes%2C%20I%20do.) [That was me](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Fall%20break%3A%20me&body=That%20was%20me.) [No](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Fall%20break%3A%20no&body=No.) What it actually is Seventeen exercises. Leg strengthening and balance retraining, and nothing exotic in the list. Knee bends, sit to stands, walking on your heels, walking on your toes, standing on one leg, walking backwards, walking and turning. Three times a week, with a rest day in between. Plus a walk. Twice a week, up to thirty minutes, at your own pace… and it can be broken into shorter walks, which matters more than it sounds. A physical therapist assesses you, then visits four times across eight weeks and makes the exercises harder as you improve. After that you run it yourself, with a phone call once a month if you want one. What it did A review gathered seven trials and 1,503 people. Average age 81 and a half. In six of those trials the rate of falls came down by about a third… a rate ratio of 0.68, with the range around it running from 0.56 to 0.79. So even the weak end of that range is a cut worth having. And now the number that stopped me Deaths over twelve months came down too. A risk ratio of 0.45, which reads as less than half. I sat with that one a while, because it is the sort of number that gets a program onto television. Then I looked at the range. From 0.25 to 0.80\. Wide. Seven small trials. And the reviewers wrote plainly that caution is needed in reading their own conclusions. So I am not going to tell you that leg exercises halve your chance of dying. The falls number is solid and the death number is interesting, and those are two very different things. The bit people skip This is a program, not a handout. The therapist visits are in it because the exercises are supposed to get harder. Four visits across eight weeks is not much to ask for, and in most places you can be referred for it. If you cannot get that, do it anyway. But put the progression in yourself. Fewer holds of something harder beats more holds of something easy. The shape of it Seventeen leg and balance exercises, three times a week with a rest day between. A walk twice a week, up to thirty minutes, and it can be split. Four therapist visits across eight weeks, then you run it. What to ask for Ask your doctor about a falls program or a physical therapist, and use the word Otago. It is a named program with a published manual, not a vague request for exercises. One word about that average age. 81 and a half means this was tested mostly on people frailer than me, and very likely frailer than you. That is a reason to expect it to work. Not a reason to wait until you qualify. When to stop and call your doctor Balance work means standing near your own limit on purpose, so set it up properly. Work beside a counter or a heavy chair you can catch. Never on a rug. And never with something hard behind you. Stop and be seen if you go dizzy or lightheaded. Same if your chest tightens, or if you have fallen during an exercise. Get the reason for your unsteadiness looked at before you go hunting for a harder version of it. Quick poll · tap to answer Has anyone offered you a falls class or physical therapy? Tap one and just press send. [Yes](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Falls%20class%3A%20yes&body=Yes.) [Never](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Falls%20class%3A%20never&body=Never.) [What are those?](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Falls%20class%3A%20what&body=What%20are%20those%3F) I read every reply. Here is to seventeen dull exercises,**Walt** |
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