Here are some essential truths about our balance as we get older: First, few of us escape a balance decline as we age. It’s just a fact that our muscles lose strength, our joints become stiffer and the important info about our balance that travels from our body to the brain takes longer. Second, good balance involves the coordination of many of our physical components and abilities, including eyes, ears, bones, brains, feet, arms, muscles, and tendons. Problems with even one can cause our balance to falter and our bodies to fall. Third, balance can also be affected by external factors, which may or may not be within our control, such as tripping hazards, poor lighting, or lack of something to hold on to. Finally, it’s not often that balance is the specific focus of our physical fitness strategies. We think of strength, aerobics, and endurance, but not always balance when we develop specific exercise routines. But as experts know, balance is very much a “use it or lose it” skill- so the less you practice and improve, the more likely you’ll fall with potentially serious consequences. Falls have become the leading cause of injury-related deaths among older people, and bone fractures account for more hospitalizations than heart attacks, strokes, and cancer combined. So we all need to do whatever we can to make our environments safer, our balance steadier, and our risk of falling as minimal as possible. To gain some wisdom on maintaining balance and preventing falls as we age, check out some previous agebuzz posts here.

Recently, in both the health and mainstream literature there have been a host of articles describing exercises you can do at home (with minimal equipment, if at all) to enhance your balance and maintain yourself strong and upright. While you should probably consult your physician before beginning, many of these are simple and straightforward, while leading you to more advanced movements as you gain comfort and strength. In fact, some sources even recommend that you build certain balance exercises into your existing walking routines, thereby checking off 2 boxes when you’re out and about. So what exercises and movements should now be on your radar? Harvard Health has 2 sets of recommendations, each involving basic leg exercises (and including visuals to show you just what you need to do): So, for example, you may want to try tandem standing or braiding your legs, or you may choose some simple and perhaps familiar moves, such as one leg stands, squats or heel and calf raises. And speaking of raising your foot, LiveStrong recommends you start doing toe raises to support your balance. Apparently, just a few minutes a day of raising and lowering your toes can help strengthen your shins and ankles, which is essential for mobility, stability, and balance. As the article’s expert explains, “Practicing balance is like eating kale: You know it’s good for you, but it’s not always the first choice on your menu.” But this exercise makes it an easy choice for big balance improvement.

The Wall Street Journal (paywall) also recently posted a set of 6 exercises essential to maintaining good balance. The article has valuable video clips demonstrating the moves, and the recommended exercises include those already described, along with such common moves as standing and sitting in a chair, lunges, and knee and toe extensions, perhaps including a resistance band for additional tension and strengthening. Or, for a host of balance exercises involving knee movements and weight shifting, and even toe walking, grab your free weights and click here. Finally, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution put out a recent set of recommended balance exercises, with visual video demonstrations and utilizing such simple pieces of equipment as balance balls or half-ball balance trainers. Their suggestions expand on some of the previous recommendations, by including more general exercises such as “the dead bug” or “the bird dog.” Crazy names, perhaps, but if they can strengthen your core and stabilize your balance, then we’ll take them regardless of the names!