Researchers found elderly and young subjects used their arms to maintain balance.
Newly-released findings from a University of Arizona study are revealing what happens when we slip and fall.
Jonathan Lee-Confer, professor of physical therapy at the UA explains that when you begin to lose your balance on a slippery surface, the natural reaction is to raise your arms.
The study focused on the deltoid muscles in the shoulders.
"That particular muscle actually atrophies between the decades of 50s and 70s quite a bit," said Lee-Confer. "You see a downward trend, downward in size, and these are the muscles we're talking about that are probably contributing to older adults showing a much smaller arm response than younger adults."
He and his colleagues studied older adults walking in everyday conditions, then gathered data from both younger and older research subjects.
They found that faster arm corrections help limit movement by the entire body.
Researchers say the findings could lead to further research into how arms can be strengthened to improve balance, especially for older individuals.
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