As we get older, working on our balance and stability is the best way to boost our longevity and independence. Yet if you’re a complete beginner, or you’re returning to exercise following an extended break, it can be tricky to know where to start.
Luckily, you’ve landed in the right place. This simple workout below boosts your balance and stability using just four bodyweight exercises that can be done from just about anywhere. You’ll be working one side of the body at a time, called unilateral training, which can help address muscle imbalances and weaknesses and, in turn, prevent falls.
As a reminder, if you’re currently recovering from an injury, it’s always best to seek personalized advice from a qualified professional.
What is the workout?
All you’ll need for the workout is your own bodyweight. They can be done at home, and according to personal trainer Deron Buboltz, who specializes in training seniors, they can give you fast, noticeable gains.
Here are the four exercises:
- Lateral leg lift: Buboltz says that this move works on your hip strength and balance. Start by standing with your feet hip-width apart and engaging your core, thinking about sucking your belly button in towards your spine. From here, shift your bodyweight onto one leg and lift the other leg out to the side, keeping your foot flexed and your leg straight. Lift a few inches off the floor before bringing it back to your starting position. Keep switching sides for 15 seconds.
- Skaters: This move works on your side-to-side weight shifting — this is a functional exercise you’ll use every day. To do this exercise, take a big step out to one side, and take the other leg behind and tap your foot on the floor. Swing your arms as you move and keep switching sides for 15 seconds.
- Forward leg lifts : This simple exercise works on your leg stability. Start with your feet hip-width apart and your core engaged. Keeping your leg straight and your foot flexed, lift one foot a few inches off the floor slowly and with control, before lowering it back to your starting position and switching sides. Do 15 seconds.
- Tapping forwards: Buboltz says this exercise works on coordination control. Start with your feet hip-width apart and tap one foot out in front of you, rotating your torso to the side you are tapping forward on. Keep this exercise as dynamic as possible and keep switching sides for the full 15 seconds.
Do 3-5 rounds of these exercises, and add them to your routine a few times a week to see a difference in your overall balance and stability.
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What are the benefits?
All of these exercises help you build the functional fitness you’ll need every single day for exercises like stepping up and down from a kerb, or stepping to the side when a toddler is scooting towards you. Working on your overall balance and stability can help prevent accidental falls and injuries and help you catch yourself if you do trip.
These exercises also work on your overall proprioception. This is your brain’s ability to sense where your limbs are without looking at them. It’s how you know where your hand is if you hold it up to your face in a dark room, even when you can’t see it. As we get older, the sensory receptors in our joints and tendons lose their sensitivity. Stability training can help rewire these pathways and wake up the neural connection between your feet and brain.
Finally, all of these exercises will work on your single-leg strength and your core. As we get older, we naturally lose muscle mass, and this speeds up dramatically after 60 in a process called sarcopenia. Balance and stability exercises like single-leg lifts recruit fast-twitch muscle fibres and can help maintain muscle strength.
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