The importance of balance
Can you balance on one leg, with your eyes shut, whilst brushing your teeth?If your answer to this is 'no', then read on.
It is well-documented that we benefit from improving our cardiovascular fitness and working our mind to prevent decline, but few of us spend any time working on our balance. Statistics from the NHS show that a third of people over 60 fall over and about half of over 80s do the same at least once a year. Falls cost the NHS £2.3 billion a year according to NICE. Research shows that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a professional athlete or a couch potato, staying fit on its own will not result in any prevention of loss of balance.
A 12 year study published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that an inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds unaided resulted in an 84% increase chance of death by any cause.
Your balance is influenced by many things – including hormones and how tired you are as well as muscle strength.
A set of scales, a device developed by former Nasa scientists, initially fitted inside the moon boots of astronauts, has now become available to purchase in the USA. The ZIBRIO scales work by measuring minuscule changes in forces under your feet; you may not even notice you’re moving. Users stand on it for 60 seconds and the scales give you a balance score out of 10 and the edges light up red, yellow or green to correspond with your fall risk level. The scales can be used with the Zibrio Balance Coach app to track your balance scores daily and give personalised recommendations of how to improve your balance.
You can read some more about the Zibrio scales here:-
So what can we do about improving our balance? Interestingly, people who walk or run to maintain fitness tend to score lower on balance scores than they would imagine as this type of exercise only involves moving in a single plane. Equally yoga is unhelpful, because the moves used are held static rather than requiring movement in a tricky position.
Here are some suggestions for exercises that will improve your balance:
- Move around on one leg. Start by mastering the art of balancing on one leg with your eyes open and then with your eyes shut. Once you can do this incorporate a squat or other exercise whilst standing on the one leg.
- T’ai chi – unlike yoga this type of exercise requires you to move into different positions whilst maintaining balance.
- Balance trainer, available in gyms or to purchase cheaply online. They look like an exercise ball cut in half.
What other ways do people use to improve their balance? Which type of exercise have people found the best?