As people age, they encounter various health problems that can increase the risk of losing her balance. Seniors can face vision problems, and weaker legs and hips can make their mobility more complicated. Other factors include spinal degeneration, poor posture and an inability to lift one’s feet. Reaction time can also decrease, and the medications one takes Also factor into the equation. Additionally, low blood pressure and lightheadedness go hand-in-hand.

Not only is important for seniors to exercise, but it’s also important for them to work on balance exercises. It’s also important for seniors to be educated further about the three essential balance elements, which are visual cues, internal spatial orientation and the inner ear. The following are some examples of balance exercises for seniors to use to help them regain their balance.

Much of the loss of balance can be attributed to a decline in activity among seniors overall. Everyone knows how important cardiovascular exercise is to a person’s health, but in order to achieve better balance, the focus is on improving both lower and upper body strength.

Tennis

Tennis helps seniors work on their posture, with a focus on keeping the hips and knees in a flexed position with their feet wide apart. Players move their upper body forward, and all of this is a great way for seniors to work on building strength and balance while staying safe and in a stable position. Tennis challenges both your balance system and your brain. It is one of the best advanced balance exercises for seniors.

Balance On One Leg

This may seem like a very simple exercise, but it is very efficient and helpful. With a firm grip on a chair in front of you, lift up one leg and balance; then, repeat with the other leg. Ultimately you want to keep the center of gravity above your ankles, which is for optimal balance. Do this exercise for a few seconds when beginning, and then work your way up to a minute on each foot as you continue to practice daily.

Marching

This type of exercise focuses on the knees and help strengthen your leg muscles. When the marching, you might want to do so near a counter.

Other great exercises include the grapevine, body circles, balancing wind, dynamic walking, clock reach and staggered stance. Not only do you need to know what exercises to perform, but you also need to know what equipment is required when performing certain activities. The following are some examples of things you might need.

An armless chair is required for certain senior balancing exercises. As you make progress, you eventually might be able to let go of the chair. Be very careful and build your confidence and technique prior to attempting to let go of the chair.

The shoes that you wear when practicing balancing exercises should have a smooth bottom. Other shoes can catch on flooring materials and cause you to trip and fall. Dance shoes work out quite nicely, and you can even use them for having fun with dance classes.

The kitchen counter also comes in handy for doing certain balance exercises, especially for beginners. Whether you have a long or a short counter in the kitchen, it can work great for the marching and walking exercises. You also need some type of soft item, such as a stuffed animal, for you to step over; however, whatever item you use should not be more than 6 inches tall.

Painters tape also comes in handy. This tape is easy to remove and can help measure your accuracy when attempting to walk a straight line. You can use this for many of the various balancing exercises. Wrist and ankle weights can also come in handy as you get more advanced with your exercises, as well as more confident. However, you should never use more than 2 pounds, whether for your arms or legs.

A notebook can also come in handy, not just for notes, but as a focal point for your balance and walking exercises. What you would do is focus on this notebook as you’re doing your balancing exercises.

Some of these balance exercises for seniors can be quite challenging, and that’s why you should always start out slowly. You don’t want to risk injury or have an accident, instead, you want to focus on proper exercise and technique to help you build both lower and upper body strength for better balance.