How To Improve Your Balance
Lacey Why do I Need to Improve it?
While your balance may not seem to be integral to your daily life, it can certainly improve it in meaningful ways. The biggest reason to start improving balance is to reduce your risk of injury, especially with older folk who are at serious risk of injury when they fall. Those who have had injuries in the past will also find that they are more predisposed to re-injuring themselves, but improving your balance can lower the risk.
Beyond that, it can also help with your posture and strength as doing exercises to improve balance works muscles that may have been unused for a long time. After working on your balance for a while you might see that you’re more coordinated or your arthritis and back pain has stopped.
How to Improve Balance
Really it is very easy to start improving your balance as most exercises or stretches you already do on a daily basis. Simply walking, biking or climbing stairs can help to strengthen your lower muscles. During your work, you might want to consider doing small stretches to give your body a chance to relax a bit, which can go a long way to improve your balance and general health. Yoga is also a great way to strengthen muscles and improve balance, so consider taking a class on it.
Easy Stretches to Improve Balance
A super easy exercise to do while on a walk outside is the Tightrope Walk. Find a straight line that’s somewhat thin, maybe the white line on the side of a quiet road, and walk on it without stepping off. You can hold your arms out to your sides and you’ll need to walk at least 15 steps.
The Flamingo Stand will have you standing up straight and slowly lift one leg up in front of you bent at the knee. You can use a chair or wall to support yourself if need be. Lift your leg as high as you can while keeping your posture straight, then hold that position for 15 seconds.
Hamstring Stretch requires a chair, as you will be sitting in it. Sit as tall as you can in the chair with your legs in front of you, your knees straight, and your feet pointing up. Put your arms on your knees and slowly move forward until your fingers touch your toes. Make sure that your back is still straight while doing this and hold the pose for 15 seconds then slowly rise back up to your seated position.