The average person will experience a decrease in balance as they age. This is due to a variety of factors that can be related to lifestyle, physical and/or sensory changes.

The average person will lose muscle mass and strength as they age, they will move less, experience arthritis, changes in vision and proprioception (awareness of the position and movement of the body), decreased reaction times, increases in medications, and many will live in fear of falling.

Here’s the good news … you do not have to be the average person!

It is not inevitable that your balance will decrease as you age and in fact, it’s something that you have a good deal of control over.

Every day I work with clients in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s who are improving their balance as they age. It does take some effort and practice, but those who do it, show incredible improvements.

Here are some guidelines that can help you to improve your balance as you age:

1. Maintain (and preferably increase) your muscle mass by engaging in strength training activities 2 - 3 times per week. If you have strong muscles, you significantly decrease your risk of falling.

   Caution: If you don’t have experience strength training (e.g., lifting weights, using exercise machines, or using resistance band) it’s important to get instruction on proper form and safety.

2. Learn how to actively engage your core muscles to give you more stability. Your core is essential to balance but you need to have both strength and the ability to contract these muscles for it to help you.

3. Keep moving every day. The less you move, the more your muscles and joints stiffen up and make it harder to move when you want to, which makes balancing more difficult and increases your risk of falling.

4. Stretch regularly. Our muscles tend to get tighter as we age but that also can be prevented with a regular stretching routine. When our muscles remain in their lengthened positions they work better.

5. Practice balancing regularly. This can be as simple as trying to stand on one foot for at least 10 seconds or doing something more complex like putting your socks on while standing.

   Caution: It is very important to practice your balance gradually by holding onto something while standing on one foot if you currently do not have good balance. With practice, you will not need to hold on but you do not want to fall while working to improve your balance!

There are definitely changes that will happen in our bodies as we age but we have much more control over how we age than many people take advantage of.

If you want to stay strong and healthy, you have to work at it. It’s one of the most important investments that you can make in yourself.

You don’t have to live in fear of falling, but you do have to practice.

If you’d like some additional tips on how to practice your balance, check out this short YouTube Video.

Action Steps:

• Think about what you already do from the list above and give yourself some credit.

  Then decide what else you can add into your daily or weekly routine to increase your balance. It can be one thing or several depending on how much time you have and how much you need and/or want to increase your balance skills.

• If you’re not doing anything from the list above that’s OK also.

  You can start improving your balance right now by picking one thing and work on making it a regular habit. Then move onto another and make that a habit when you’re ready.