CLEVELAND — September is Fall Prevention Month, and while it’s an accident that can happen to anyone, older adults can experience more dangerous consequences.

One in four seniors report falling each year, some leading to serious injury or death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ted Laufik Sr. is taking a stand against the statistics and using exercise to strengthen his muscles and balance. With a collection of CDs spanning various genres of music, there’s usually a beat in the background of his home.

“Mainly modern jazz,” he said. “I enjoy that.”

But one tune stands out as his favorite.

“It’s a very touching song about going to heaven to meet an angel, which would be my wife, Marie,” Laufik said. “Which I love very deeply.”

The two were married 70 years until Marie passed away in December.

“She was a beautiful gal,” he said, looking at an old photograph. “There she was, just after we were married.”

The Laufiks raised five children and made a lifetime of memories.

“My wife and I danced all the time,” he said.

But health problems forced the couple to sit out some dances later in life.

“I used to wheel her around in a wheelchair, and consequently, my legs got kind of weak,” Laufik said. “So, I did go to a cane for a while.”

Hard to believe if you see the 92 year old’s fancy footwork now.

“My doctor said at my last appointment that I look more like I’m 70, so if people ask me, I say I’m 72,” he said. “Cause the doctor’s always right.”

Laufik said a decision to get serious about exercise put some pep in his step.

“Now I don’t need a cane,” he said, before walking into his second workout class of the day at Vitalia Strongsville.

“If you don’t move it, you lose it, so that’s why we’re working on our range of motion,” said Morgan Luedy, an exercise physiologist with Fox Rehabilitation who led the class.

This particular set of round of strength training was made extra challenging with resistance bands.

“When you start, they’re easy,” Laufik said. “But after repetition, by 10 you know you’ve been working.”

They’re putting in the work to strengthen muscles.

“It really starts to fight back, and that’s the whole objective of it,” he said.

He hopes he’s setting an example for his peers.

“That I’ve been able to apply myself and get all that strengthening back,” he said. “And confidence.”

He believes in the power of hard work and a positive mindset.

“You gotta think that you can do it and just do it,” Laufik said. “Don’t tell yourself you can’t do it, and you won’t.”