Balance training each week – but what does that mean exactly?

Testing your balance

We all know regular and ongoing strength and balance training are good for us as we get older, along with aerobic activity (i.e. walking, swimming, cycling). Last month I spoke about strength training and what it should look like if you are doing it 2-3 times a week. This month I am going to outline what balance training each week should include, because balance training is often the forgotten cousin in the exercise as you age world.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) we should all be trying to do around 60-90 minutes of balance training every week [1,2]. If you can do the balance exercises in 15-minute sessions at a minimum this can provide you with a good base, two 30 minute sessions or a little longer is also optimal. Interestingly, the ACSM discuss safety much more than they did with strength training. They recommend people who are just starting out to be near something stable and that is non-slip, like a wall or sturdy counter (that is connected to a wall). They also suggest being supervised to do these exercises, like I recommended with strength training is a good idea, particularly if you are just starting out. A registered clinical exercise physiologist can help you with these exercises, especially if you are feeling unsteady on your feet. If you are confident, then starting balance training at home is an option, just make sure you are being safe while doing them.

Balancing on one leg like a stork

The ACSM recommend you train three progressive categories of balance training:

1.      Static postural control – this is where you are training your balance when standing still, you might start with your feet apart (this is the easiest stance) and work towards having your feet together, or one in front of the other or even balancing on one foot. Further progressions can include doing these activities but with your eyes closed or on a foam or rocky flooring (you can see why safety aspects need to be considered along the way). Remember you start off easy and work your way up over time, this isn’t a quick fix, like a crash diet, this is a life-long practice of living and ageing well.

2.      Dynamic balance – is where you are practicing your ability to stabilise yourself while moving. You might do some activities like knee raises, heel-toe walking (the test used in America by the police to see if you have drunk too much alcohol – please don’t drink alcohol before or during balance activities!), and walking sideways. Even doing something we called the grapevine as kids (walking sideways with one foot crossing the body in front, then behind, then in front) is a great dynamic balance activity.

3.      Functional activities: These are important because they are the ones you can do throughout your day to really make sure you get up to your 60-90 minutes a week and they are the important activities to keep living independently. Things like moving from a seated position to standing but not using your hands to help you up. If you are doing this easily (i.e. no hands), try it in a lower chair in your home to practice, a low couch is always good. If you are needing to use your hands currently, work on using them less each time you get up, start with pressing up less and really concentrating on using your quads (thighs) to get you up. If you are achieving this, try with only your fingertips on the chair, then one finger for each arm of the chair and before you know it you will be hands free again when getting up. The trick once you are hands free though is to maintain it, don’t let it drop off, it really does make a difference.

Getting up from a chair using your hands

If you go to a gym or you have a gym at home and like to have some funky equipment and you are doing your balance exercises quite well and want a challenge, there are some pieces of equipment you can consider. Things like balance pillows – a foam-filled pad/pillow that you can stand on and the sponge makes it more challenging or the balance discs which many gyms have. Some have a board with a half disc on the bottom of it which we often call wobble boards, they definitely make balance exercises more challenging.

Balance equipment

Some other balance activities you can consider throughout the day are things like, when you are standing up taking a phone call or even chatting with a friend you can balance on one foot, to add challenge when balancing on one foot you can turn your head to one side then the other (please be careful though if you suffer from vertigo, you can see an exercise specialist who can help you). Walking on your toes, as well as strengthening your lower legs it also helps you to improve your balance. If you feel you are not ready for this yet, start standing at a bench and rise onto your toes, use your hands on the bench to stabilise if you feel you need to. Over time though I want you to go from using your hands (holding on), to using your fingertips, to one finger for each hand on the bench to no hands and doing it freestyle as we say.

If you don’t want to go to the gym but you would like to do a class, another type of balance training you could consider is Tai Chi. It is very good for balance and is also excellent for preventing falls too. Yoga may be good for improving your balance and helps with breathing but please note at this stage there is no evidence to suggest yoga assists in reducing falls [3].

Tai Chi is great for balance

My Mum has been doing balance exercises for years, go Mum! One day when we were chatting about them, she said to me “I don’t like that I wobble when doing the harder exercises”. It then dawned on me that not everyone realises that if you are wobbly when doing balance exercises this is good. It means you are challenging your body, which is what we want you to do. We don’t want this to be too easy, this should be a little difficult, because it means we are testing ourselves and are trying to get better. So, if you are wobbling around doing your balance exercises, great, keep going. If you find you are not wobbling, move on to more difficult exercises, you’re too good for the old ones.

• As always, if you are doing balance training already just keep going and make sure you are challenging yourself over time and adding variety in – you want those wobbles!

• If you don’t want to go to a gym there are websites that can take you safely through different balance activities, an Australian one created by colleagues of mine is called Safe Exercise at Home , have a look and let me know what you think.

• If you would like to improve your reactive (stepping) balance there is a great App called ClockYourself which was created by a fabulous physiotherapist Meg Lowry in Brisbane. You can access it on your phone or tablet and it works your cognition too, so you get that bonus as well.

• Meg has also developed a book called Balance Yourself it progresses you through a series of balance exercises and you are aiming to complete them over a 30 second period. It makes doing balance exercises easy, but they get progressively harder.

• I often do mat Pilates and they finish with a number of balance exercises which I have to admit make me very happy, as I know it’s the toughest of the three (aerobic, strength and balance) to get into my routine each week.

• So, do you get your 60-90 minutes of balance exercises in a week? Keep a check for a week and see just how many minutes you get up to. I’d love to hear how you’re going.

Live the good life!

References

[1] American College of Sports Medicine. (2022). ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (G. Liguori, Y. Feito, C. Fountaine, & B. A. Roy, Eds.; 11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

[2] American College of Sports Medicine, Chodzko-Zajko, W. J., Proctor, D. N., Fiatarone Singh, M. A., Minson, C. T., Nigg, C. R., Salem, G. J., & Skinner, J. S. (2009). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and physical activity for older adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(7), 1510–1530.

[3] Oliveira J.S., Sherrington C., Lord S.L., Camara G.C., Colley S., West C., Haynes A., Gilchrist H., Kwok W.S., Pearce L.M.N., Wallbank G., Trent M., Bauman A., Grunseit A.C., Anstey K.J., Tiedemann A., ‘The effect of an Iyengar yoga-based exercise programme versus a seated yoga relaxation programme on falls in people aged 60 years and older (SAGE): a pragmatic, two-arm, parallel randomised controlled trial’ (Lancet Healthy Longevity, 2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.lanhl.2025.100749