Challenge your balance

Exercises to challenge your balance

All of us have lost our balance at some point and perhaps taken a tumble. As we get older the risk of falling over increases. Our physical strength can decrease, our sense of balance deteriorates, and it can take longer for us to recover from a fall.  

The good news is that our balance can be improved and by frequently making time to make sure you challenge your balance.  Balance is everything in reducing the risk of falls so working hard on your balance can keep you strong and steady now and in later life.  

Good balance can be achieved with exercises that include changing the position of your feet, standing on one foot, and adding in different movements of your head and arms. Practice makes perfect so the more you work at it the better your balance will be.  

When we are trying to balance, our muscles are trying to work together to keep us upright. When we struggle to balance muscles that are not able to work correctly together can strain which can then aggravate other joints or even cause arthritis flare ups. Balance is so incredibly important and we need to maintain it.  

Steady exercise has been proven to improve balance and building up repetitions of specific balance challenging exercises will improve your body’s ability to keep you upright. Just 10 minutes of exercises a day could help you see noticeable improvements in your balance.  

Please be mindful that conditions like peripheral neuropathy, dizziness, neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease, and orthostatic hypotension can complicate your balance though, making it a little more difficult but regular exercise can help keeping you strong and steady. 

FIRST, LET’S MASTER THE BASICS 

Before we start with exercises to improve balance, let’s see where you are at. Go through each of these four stages after you can confidently hold each position for at least 10 seconds you are ready to move on. Research shows that people are at a higher risk for falls if position 3 cannot be held for at least 10 seconds. Like with everything though the more your practice the better you become, and it is never too late to start.  

NEXT, LET’S UP THE CHALLENGE WITH THESE 5 EXERCISES TO IMPROVE YOUR BALANCE 

These exercises will take your balance to the next level. You will benefit most from these exercises if you complete 2-3 of the exercises 2-3 times per week.  

Balance isn’t something you achieve “someday”. Nick Vujicic

It is important to ensure that you make time to keep practicing your balancing exercises to keep you strong and steady.

Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC regulary encourage older adults to challenge their balance with our weekly Keep Dancing classes running across the West Midlands and online. Our regular participants have reported improvements in not only their balance but their coordination and mobility to. Continuing to be physically active in later years is so important to help prevent falls, maintain independence and be able to attend social engagements that you continue to feel that you belong to your local community.

If you have enjoyed our Challenge you balance workout you might want to try our lower body workout on YouTube . Other workouts are also available on our channel look for Move it Monday workouts.

Find out more about the work of Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC here.