If you’re tired of losing your balance or feel unsteady while walking, this video is
for you.
I’ll show you the #1 exercise that I use with my senior patients to improve their balance
faster than all other exercises.
If we haven't met before, I’m Tim Fraticelli, a physical therapist and on this channel I
love helping people like you make progress towards their goals.
And if you goal is to improve your balance, let me know by clicking the like button below.
Here’s one of the biggest misconceptions of balance: I’ve found that regardless of
how strong someone is, they can still have balance problems.
That’s because our balance isn’t dependent solely on how strong we are.
Other factors like the connection between our joints and our brain and knowing where
our body is positioned in space can be critical factors that can improve our stability and
prevent falls.
The great part is that you don’t necessarily need to use weights in the clinic to see improvements
here - I use dynamic balance training like the exercise I’ll show you how to perform
in this video.
When an older person has difficulty walking because of instability, it’s most evident
in the way they shuffle as they walk.
This happens almost unconsciously because they’re afraid they’re going to fall,
so they don’t lift up their feet.
And that’s exactly what we’ll address with this critical exercise:
Let me break it down into 2 phases
The first goal is to weight shift onto a single leg.
I want my patients to feel confident as they get used to putting their full weight onto
one leg.
So using a chair or countertop in front and even behind them can be an excellent place
to start.
Try to raise one foot and shift your body weight over the stance leg.
Now carefully raise one arm and try to stand without any support at all.
Most people reach right back to the chair immediately, so keep trying 5, 10, 15 times
until you can hold that position for 5 to 10 seconds.
Once you can do this, you’re ready for phase 2.
One thing to note, if your hip drops down every time you do a weight shift, try to keep
it level by only raising your foot so your toe still touches the ground.
Hold that position for 5 seconds then return to the start.
Repeat another 5 times on one leg then try the same weight shifting on the other leg.
This is also a good technique if you’re having difficulty with the full weight shift
right away.
Phase 2 is the static version of the single leg stance.
By static I mean stationary or not moving at all.
So once you’ve mastered the weight shifting in phase one, you should be able to perform
a single leg stance for at least 10 seconds.
Your goal here is to increase your time to at least 20 seconds on each leg.
Don’t get frustrated if you can’t get it right away.
That’s because it can take dozens, even hundreds of practice attempts for your brain
to assimilate to this new challenge.
But that’s exactly the type of balance challenge activity our bodies need in order to adapt
and to improve our stability.
So keep at it and try to master phase 2 of a Static Single Leg Stance and build up to
20 to 30 seconds on each leg without any upper body support.
Once you’ve mastered the single leg stance for 30 seconds, you can advance to phase 3
and 4 which incorporate dynamic movements.
I’ll go over those dynamic phases in the next video.
But Try to master the first 2 phases and let me know if you like the ‘straight to the
point’ format of this video by giving this video a like and by leaving a comment below.
Hey, I know it can be tough to get into a routine with new exercises and you may not
be sure if you’re doing enough or too much.
So if you want to improve your leg strength and your overall balance with a complete balance
guide, take a look at the 21-day routine I put together for you at GetBetterBalance.com.
It’s called 21 days to better balance and you’ll find a workout calendar, day-by-day
exercises, and more info you can use to improve your balance and strength.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next video.