Exercises to Help Older Adults Keep Their Balance These 11 balance exercises are made just for older adults to help keep them from falling. People over 65 are most likely to get hurt when they fall. These exercises help you get stronger and better at balancing. Both are important for staying safe and independent as you get older.
1. Controlled weight transfers to help you become more aware of your body
Exercises for Older Adults to Improve Balance These 11 balance exercises for older adults can help keep you from falling. People over 65 who fall are more likely to get hurt than anyone else. These moves help you get stronger and better at balancing. Both are important for staying safe and independent as you get older. Why Balance Is Important If you have good balance, you can do everyday things with confidence. It lowers your chances of falling and lets you keep living an active life. Strong muscles help your joints and make it easier to get back on your feet if you start to lose your balance.
2. Standing heel lifts to make your ankles stronger and help you keep your balance
Heel raises help you get better at balancing and make your calf muscles stronger. These muscles are important for walking and climbing stairs.
How to raise your heels: Put your feet about hip-width apart. You can get support by holding on to something stable, like a chair or counter. If you feel steady enough, you can also put your hands on your hips. Stand on the balls of your feet with your heels off the ground. Stay in this position for one to two seconds. Then, slowly bring your heels back down to the floor.
To make it harder, you can try doing this exercise on one foot at a time. This will require more strength and balance from each leg on its own.
3. Take slow steps forward and backward to help you stay stable.
Exercise for stepping forward and backward Once you are good at weight-shifting exercises, you can start doing forward and backward steps. You can do this exercise in one of two ways. You can do all of the repetitions on one leg before moving to the other leg, or you can switch legs after each repetition to make it harder. This is how to do the exercise: Start by standing with your feet about hip-width apart. Let your arms hang down at your sides like they should. Put your right foot forward and then bring it back to where it started. Take your right foot back and then put it back where it was. Do the same things with your left foot.
4. Standing with your feet together to improve your core balance
Exercise for Standing Balance Putting your feet together makes your base smaller, which makes it harder to balance. As you get better at this exercise, it gets harder. First, stand with your arms out to the sides. Put your feet together until they touch. Don’t move your feet while you stay in this position for as long as you can. Try it again with your arms at your sides after you can hold this for a minute. Cross your arms over your chest to make it harder. When that gets easier, go back to holding your arms out to the sides, but this time close your eyes.
5. Walking with your head turned to improve coordination
Many parts of your body need to work together for your balance to be good, and your eyesight is a big part of that. Changing where you look while you move can help you keep your balance. This exercise helps your body learn how to stay steady even when your head moves around. Begin by walking slowly and steadily forward. As you keep going, turn your head to the right and look back over your right shoulder. Put your head back in front of you again. Now, turn your head to the left and look over your left shoulder. As you walk, keep looking to the right and then to the left. You can keep doing this pattern as long as you want to practice. This easy task makes the link between your eyes and your balance system stronger. If you practice regularly, you may feel more stable on your feet when you do everyday things.
6. Stepping side to side to help with lateral balance
You can side-step by sliding your hands along a counter for extra support until you feel comfortable doing it without holding on. This is how to do it: Stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Point your toes forward and take a small step to the right with your right foot. Put your left foot next to your right foot. Keep going in this way for as long as you need to, then step to the side in the other direction to get back to where you started.
7. Forward Step-Ups to Build Confidence and Strengthen Your Legs
Forward step-ups to improve your balance When you do everyday things like walking up stairs, forward step-ups help you keep your balance better. This exercise is useful because it mimics things you do every day. You can do this exercise at the bottom of any staircase in your house. If you need more help, hold on to the handrail. If the stairs are too high for you (most are about 7 inches high), you can use a lower platform or a strong box instead.
How to Do Step-Ups To begin, stand in front of the step. First, put your right foot on the step. Put your left foot up on the step to meet it. Put your left foot back down on the ground. Then put your right foot on the ground. Every time you do the exercise again, switch which foot leads. This easy movement pattern makes your legs stronger and helps your body learn how to handle stairs better. To get the best results in your daily life, you should practice often.
8. Side step-ups to keep your hips stable and avoid falling
You should only try side step-ups after you can do them safely moving forward. Look for a step or stable raised platform that is wide enough for both feet to fit on. To do side step-ups, do these things: Stand so that the right side of your body is facing the step. Put your right foot on the step. Put your left foot up to join it on the step. Put your left foot back down on the floor. Put your right foot on the floor. Do 10 of these on this side. Then turn around so your left side is facing the step and do 10 more reps, this time leading with the other leg.
9. Standing on your heels and toes to improve your balance
After you get used to standing with your feet together, you could try tandem standing, which is a harder exercise. This is how to stand in tandem:5 Stand up and stretch your arms straight out to the sides at shoulder level. Put your right foot directly in front of your left foot so that the heel of your right foot touches the toes of your left foot. Don’t move your feet and stay in this position for as long as you can. Change sides and do it again, but this time put your left foot in front of your right foot. You can make this exercise harder by crossing your arms over your chest or letting them hang down at your sides. You can make it even harder by trying to stand in tandem with your eyes closed.
10. Standing on One Leg to Make Yourself More Stable
When you start doing balance exercises, try standing on one leg next to something solid that you can grab if you need to. This is how to do a single-leg stance:5 Stand close to something solid. To lift your right foot, bend your knee and bring your heel toward your back while keeping your body straight. Stand on your left foot and keep your balance for as long as you can without moving. Change legs and do it again. You can make this exercise harder by closing your eyes or standing on a cushion or pillow, which is not very stable.
11. Cross-step walking to improve control and coordination
How to Do Braiding Exercises The grapevine or karaoke exercise is another name for the braiding exercise. This is a hard balance exercise. This is how to do it: To begin, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Let your arms hang down by your sides. If you need more help with balance, you can stretch your arms out to the sides so they are parallel to the floor. Cross your right leg over your left leg in front of it. Then take your left foot out from behind your right foot and step to the left. Then put your right leg behind your left leg. After that, bring your left leg back to the side. Keep repeating this movement pattern as you travel sideways for whatever distance you want to cover. When you reach your endpoint reverse all the movements and work your way back to your starting position.
