Balance Exercises for Seniors
By Sara Butler
As you age it’s very important to remain active. Not only does it help you to stay healthy, it also helps you to stay flexible and improves balance. Two million senior citizens get injured from falls every year and end up in the emergency room, which makes working on your balance paramount. Here are some easy exercises for seniors to keep you balanced and solid on your own two feet.
How Often and How Much?
So once you decide on an exercise to help with balance, how often should you do it? The benefit to simple balance exercises is you can do them as often as you want. You should focus on doing these exercises at least two days a week or more, but don’t do them two days in a row.
Stay Safe
In order to stay safe as you practice your balance exercises, you should make sure you have either a person nearby who can help, or a sturdy chair to use for balance. If you’re unsure about an exercise, talk to your chiropractor or doctor about it before you attempt it. They may be able to offer you alternatives or modifications to make it safer for you and your particular needs.
Make Progress
As you get more time under your belt doing these exercises you should challenge yourself more by modifying them. You should start the exercises by using a chair to help offer support and progress to holding the chair with just one hand , then to one finger and then with no hands on the chair at all. If you get really good you can try to do the exercises with your eyes closed, but only do this if you feel it’s something you can do safely.
Exercises
There are some very easy balance exercises you can do at any time and in most any place. Start with standing on one foot while leaning on a chair for support. Hold this position for 10 seconds if you can, then repeat it 10 to 15 times; switch to the other leg repeating 10-15 times again.
Another exercise you can try is the heel-to-toe walk. For this one, just place the heel of one of your feet in front of the toes of your other foot, making sure your toes and heel are touching. Look ahead of you and pick an object to look at in the distance. Take one step forward putting your heel just in front of the toes on your other foot and then repeat for 20 steps, keeping your eyes focused in front of you.
If you’d like some other exercises to help with balance, talk to your chiropractor during your next visit to The Joint Chiropractic!