Five balance exercises to help prevent falls and fractures in old age Balancing yourself can be difficult, especially as you get older. Therefore, give balance exercises for seniors a try and you’ll have fewer instances of falling.
When you were younger, you didn’t think much about balance. Your sole focus is on walking or proceeding. Yet, as you become older, here and there adjusting yourself turns out to be hard. You frequently lose your balance and fall. A trip to the hospital is usually required when an elderly person falls. Broken bones from a fall can sometimes necessitate expensive surgery! Therefore, exercising to improve your balance is preferable. Take a look at these senior balance exercises, which will help you stay fit and reduce your risk of falling.
HealthShots talked to fitness expert Varun Rattan, who says that being able to keep your balance is a skill that is necessary for everyday life. Utilizing vision, vestibular sense, proprioception, muscle strength, and response speed are all necessary for this. Sadly, these systems begin to deteriorate as we get older, which can cause balance issues.
The following is a list of five balance exercises that elderly women can do at home: Leg raise from the seated position • Sit securely in a chair with your feet on the ground and your hands on the arm rests.
• Raise one leg and maintain that position for five seconds. On each side, perform this motion ten times.
According to the expert, you can make the exercise more difficult by not using the arm rests, sitting in an office chair with wheels, sitting on a stability ball, or even closing your eyes.
2. Lunges • To perform lunges, stand with your right foot a few feet in front of your left.
• Ensure that your hand is touching a wall and that your torso is straight, with your shoulders back and down. Keep your core engaged.
• Bring your body down so that your left knee is just a few inches off the ground.
• Your front thigh should be parallel to the ground at the end of the movement.
• After that, raise your body back to the starting position.
You can make the exercise harder by placing your hands on your hips.
3. Static balance with one leg • With your feet hip-width apart, place your hands on the hips and evenly distribute your weight across both legs.
• Lift your left foot off the ground and hold it there for as long as you can while keeping your form in place.
• Return to the starting position and perform the exercise on the opposite side. Increase the time until you can do it for one minute on each side as you get more confident.
Rattan, co-founder of The Body Science Academy, Noida, asserts that attempting something with your eyes closed can make you push yourself even further.
4. Taps with one leg that look like a clock • Picture a clock on the floor in front of you. Consider 12 o’clock in the middle.
• Re-elevate by standing on your left leg and tapping your right foot at two o’clock.
• Tap the fourth position, then the fifth, and so on.
• Now switch legs and repeat with your left leg, starting at 10 o’clock and working your way down to 8 o’clock.
While this may assist you in resolving your balance issues, you can also try exercises designed for women over 60 to maintain your fitness.
5. • Stand with your feet parallel to one another and shoulder-width apart.
• Place a dumbbell or water bottle in each hand on your right hip.
• Swing your arms up in a controlled manner while pivoting to the left with your rear foot.
