After 65, improving your balance requires exercises beyond simply walking. As you get older, walking is an excellent way to stay healthy. However, walking is a habitual movement we do every day. If you want to actually improve your balance, you need a more focused approach than just thousands and thousands of steps.
Every learning process requires three basic steps: cognitive, associative, autonomous. In the cognitive stage, you use conscious thought to figure out how to execute a new movement. In the associative stage you refine your awareness. And then once you’ve fully learned the new movement, it becomes automatic. When you’ve been walking for 65 years, your body is fully autonomous. Your walking patterns have been built over years and years. To create any movement improvements, you need to slow down and work specific movements on their own. Once you’ve mastered these moves, it will improve your balance when you’re walking and moving through life.
When you walk, your feet alternate quickly as you travel across the ground. You use your eyes to see the ground ahead. You can improve your balance when you eliminate all the things we take for granted when we walk. If you narrow your base of support, if you remove your sight, if you change direction, or you stand on one leg, this will force your ankles, hips, and your inner ear to learn how to operate properly.
Each of the below five standing exercises trains all the elements needed to improve your balance. Make sure to hold onto a stable object nearby, like a countertop, for support when you start out. As you improve, you can start to perform each movement without the assistance. Do these exercises daily in short sessions.
Tandem Stance Hold
By standing with a narrow stance, you create a smaller base of support, which forces your ankles and hips to stabilize so you can remain balanced. This is a basic exercise that everyone needs to be able to do.
Line the heel of your front foot against the toes of your back foot. Look straight ahead. Build towards a 30-second hold time.
How to Do It
- Stand beside a counter for support
- Place one heel directly in front of the other toes
- Keep your arms relaxed at your sides
- Look straight ahead and hold still
- Build toward 30 seconds
- Switch the front foot and repeat.
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Single-Leg Stand With Eyes Closed
Vision corrects your balance, which is why it’s hard to balance in a dark hallway or on an uneven path. If you close your eyes, you force your muscles and inner ear to work harder. I use this with clients after 65, because your vision deteriorates over time, and often it’s hard to balance at night.
Stand beside a stable object. Shift your weight onto one leg. Close your eyes once you feel settled. Start slowly with just a few seconds and build towards a longer time each workout.
How to Do It
- Stand beside a counter with one hand ready
- Shift your weight onto one leg
- Settle before you close your eyes
- Close both eyes and hold steady
- Open them as soon as you wobble
- Switch sides and repeat.
Lateral Step With Hold
We need to be able to walk in three planes of motion. Lateral steps help you control motion to the side. As you step out, make sure to transfer your weight fully onto the side leg. Pause for a beat before bringing your other leg across.
How to Do It
- Stand tall beside a counter
- Step one foot directly out to the side
- Shift your weight fully onto it
- Pause for a beat and hold steady
- Bring the other foot across to meet it
- Travel one way, then return.
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Backward Walking
When you walk backward, you have to rely on input from your muscles rather than your visual system. Take short steps, go toe-to-heel, and keep upright rather than leaning forward. Start with 10 steps back and 10 steps forward. Add distance once you feel steady in both directions.
How to Do It
- Stand in a clear hallway
- Keep one hand near a wall
- Take short steps backward
- Place the toes down before the heel
- Stay tall instead of leaning forward
- Walk back and forth slowly.
Single-Leg Clock Reach
Now let’s put everything together and balance in all directions. Adding additional movement to a balanced position further increases the challenge. We live in a three-dimensional world, so we must practice our balance accordingly.
Stand on one leg, reach forward, then out to the side, then behind you. Return to the middle under control after every reach.
How to Do It
- Stand on one leg beside a counter
- Reach the free foot forward and tap lightly
- Return to the middle under control
- Reach out to the side and tap
- Reach behind you and tap
- Switch legs and repeat.
The post 5 Standing Exercises That Improve Balance Better Than Walking After 65 appeared first on Eat This Not That.
