Many fitness professionals recommend multi-activity exercise programs that include aerobic or cardiovascular exercise to protect the heart and improve endurance, strength training to tone and build muscles, and stretching for flexibility and to help avoid injury. Exercises to improve balance are not usually mentioned, even though good balance can be just as important to overall health.
Better balance can result in a number of important benefits. First, it can help to prevent injuries. Balance begins to deteriorate at about the age of 25. As a result, as you age, your risk of falling increases. For the elderly, falls are one of the leading causes of injury and even death. Second, better balance can improve coordination and posture. Therefore, it can enhance your athletic performance and help you get the maximum benefit from your exercise program, whatever it is. To improve your golf or tennis game, improve your balance. Finally, it can boost self confidence and independence and, therefore, enhance your quality of life.
There are many simple exercises that you can do to improve your balance, including the following.
1. Balance on one leg. Start by trying to stand on one leg for half a minute, then for progressively longer as your balance improves. Have a chair or another source of support at hand in case you totter. If need be, bend the leg you are standing on at the knee. This will make it easier for you to balance. So will focusing your gaze on something stationary. As your balance improves and you are able to stand on either leg longer without losing your balance, do this exercise with your eyes closed.
2. Improve your balance by closing your eyes and standing on your toes. Initially do this for half a minute, then for longer periods as your balance improves. Be sure you have support nearby when you do this.
3. Stand on one foot, then lean forward and reach toward the ground with your hand (touch the floor with your hand if you can) without letting both feet touch the floor. Once again, be sure to have support nearby in case you start to topple.
4. Do sit ups or crunches to strengthen your abs. Strong abs are important for good balance.
5. Walk (or run) to strengthen your thigh muscles, which also are important for good balance. Walking on hills is especially effective at toning the thigh muscles.
6. Tandem walk. Improve you balance by tandem walking as if you were walking on a tight rope or the narrow edge of a board. Place one foot directly in front of the other, with the heel of the forward foot touching the toe of the lagging foot. Now place the lagging foot in front of the forward foot with its heel touching the toe. Continue walking in this heel-toe manner. Do this where this is support nearby, like a hallway, in case you lose your balance.
7. Enroll in a yoga class or take up tai chi. Both yoga and tai chi are good for you in many ways. One that is often overlooked is the contribution they can make to better balance.
Some of these exercises can be incorporated into your daily routine. For example, stand on one foot or on your toes when you are brushing your teeth or waiting for the micro wave to finish heating water for your tea.
