Topic - ?Neuromuscular performance in old age?

Topic - ?Neuromuscular performance in old age?

on 16.06.2011 from 4-5 p.m. in the seminar room at the Aueparkhalle

Children and senior citizens have a lot in common: many things that have to be learned at the beginning of life are lost with increasing age. For example, the ability to perform simple balance tasks. The result: "The risk of injuring yourself in a fall is higher than average in both age groups," says Prof. Dr. Urs Granacher (photo). The Professor of Training Science and Special Didactics of Sports at the University of Jena is investigating how these risks can be reduced through training. In addition to a lack of strength and balance, the main reason why children and senior citizens are so prone to falling is their inability to do several things at the same time while walking. "The problem lies in the coordination of balance and cognitive and motor processes," says the 37-year-old, who moved from the University of Basel to Friedrich Schiller University. The sports scientist, who was born in Waldshut in Baden, is now planning to expand his focus on health training in Jena. He himself studied sports science, German and English in Freiburg and Canada. Urs Granacher then worked as a sports therapist before writing his doctoral thesis on the effects of strength and sensorimotor training at the University of Freiburg. After completing his doctorate in 2003, he completed a traineeship and worked as an assessor before moving to the University of Basel in 2007. In 2010, he completed his habilitation at the University of Freiburg with his thesis "Balance and Strength Performance in Children, Adolescents, and Seniors". With this work, Granacher won third place in this year's German Olympic Sports Confederation Science Prize.

Excerpt: Profile (18.04.2011) - Friedrich Schiller University Jena.