Most younger people don’t worry about their balance. But they should! Balance training earlier in life will benefit you later. But even if you’ve never thought about your balance, it’s never too late to improve.
As we age, many things contribute to decreased balance, including muscle loss (sarcopenia), reduced proprioception, reduced strength and agility, and vision or inner ear issues. For older people, falls can result in devastating, life-changing consequences. Here are a few ideas to work on balance and fall prevention:
Start with the easy stuff and work from there. Begin by standing in a normal, hip width stance. Next, narrow your stance so that your feet are close together. If that’s easy, try going into a split stance, with 1 foot forward and 1 foot back, with several inches between your feet. Then you can try a heel-toe stance where are the toes of 1 foot are touching the heel of the other. Now try adding some movement. Remaining in the heel-toe stance, begin slowly rotating the shoulders and head to one side and then the other side. Step out of it at any point if you need to return to a wider foot position, or you can do it next to a wall or chair if you need more support.
Next, try standing on 1 foot. Be sure that the ankle doesn’t roll in. If it does, consciously lift through your arch and roll your ankle the tiniest bit outward to help you stabilize. Also, think of stacking your weight on that leg: remember that your center of gravity will be different. Then you can add in the shoulder and head turns.
Another option is trying any of the above balancing positions but reducing the advantage that your eyes give you. Begin by closing one eye, then open and close the other eye. If you’re able to, you can close both eyes! Notice how much of a difference that makes in making the exercise harder.
Some other options, if you have them available to you are standing on a Bosu trainer or small balance disc. These will challenge your balance and also help strengthen the muscles in the foot, ankle, and lower leg. Just be sure to be near a wall or something else that you can hang onto if you feel the need at any point. One of my favorite exercises is doing the heel toe walk, either on the floor or on a low balance beam. Try going forward and then backward!
Finally, some foot and leg exercises that are beneficial to balance are:
Lifting through the arches and slightly supinating at the angles as mentioned earlier; be sure to do this only on a stable surface.
On a stair, you can do heel drops and lifts which will strengthen the calf muscles.
Also, sitting and standing to a chair or low bench repeatedly will strengthen your upper leg muscles, especially the quadriceps, which are some of the largest in the body! They are also some of the most muscles important in terms of daily function.
Hopefully these tips are useful to you. Now you just have to practice, and put them in your schedule to do regularly. Balance is important!
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