All posts tagged: Balance

This is the one equipment-free move I’m doing to maintain my balance and agility as I age

This is the one equipment-free move I’m doing to maintain my balance and agility as I age

Published by Jenni Sidey

I try to make all my workouts efficient, focusing on full-body strength and mobility routines that will help me age well. This involves a lot of repetition, which can get a bit boring. I decided to shake things up recently by trying a routine from trainer Lindsey Bomgren of Nourish Move Love—and I was glad I did. Deep within the workout was a move that humbled me and exposed a blind spot in my longevity training: the double-hop skater. Latest Videos FromFit&Well Double-hop skater 30-Minute Full Body Band Workout (Travel Workout) – YouTube Watch On Want to see how it’s done? Skip the YouTube video above to the last exercise in circuit 5, scrub to 9min 25sec left on the overall timer for the workout. How to do it: You may like Stand with your feet hip-width apart and raise your right foot. Hop forward and backward on your left foot. Jump laterally to the right, landing on your right foot. Bend your right knee to lower your hips and tuck your left leg behind …

What your grip strength and balance really say about healthy aging

What your grip strength and balance really say about healthy aging

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Assessing hand grip strength, testing balance, or rising from the floor to a standing position are often highlighted as indicators of healthy aging and potential longevity. These physical assessments offer useful insights into an individual’s endurance and strength. They help gauge the likelihood of falls—a major contributor to mortality among older adults—and assist clinicians caring for aging individuals or patients recovering from injury. However, these physical challenges cannot predict the future. “A poor or declining result is a reason for a health professional to investigate why function is changing, rather than gauging how long someone will live,” said Auriel Willette, an expert on brain aging at Rutgers University. Understanding how mobility assessments function can help individuals properly interpret their physical results. Variations of the “sit-to-stand” assessment have gained significant attention. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses a 30-second …

Are you at risk for falls? Try these 3 at-home balance tests

Are you at risk for falls? Try these 3 at-home balance tests

Published by Sam Flores

Knowledge is power. That’s the reasoning behind DIY balance testing. It’s better to get a baseline as to where your balance stands — and strengthen it, as needed — than let an unknown problem fester and progress. Chronic pain, recurring musculoskeletal injuries or motion intolerance, such as car sickness, could all be indicators of a vestibular system (inner ear sensor) weakness. Testing balance can help identify a problem early in the progression so that you can get further screening and treatment. Good balance is beneficial for living a longer, healthier life — at any age. Check out our series featuring the latest research, a balance IQ test and simple at-home exercises. “Prevention is always better than rehabilitation,” says Mike Teater, director of balance for Fyzical, a national network of clinics specializing in balance and dizziness. Younger adults or athletes may also want to test their balance to optimize sports performance. And, of course, as we age, our balance becomes compromised — we’re less able to compensate for vestibular system weaknesses as our vision declines and …

4 simple balance exercises for beginners to improve stability in 5 minutes a day

4 simple balance exercises for beginners to improve stability in 5 minutes a day

Published by Sam Flores

If you’re just starting out with balance training, a routine of basic static and dynamic exercises is a great way to go, says Kimberly M. Burbank, a sports medicine physician at UCLA Health. The exercises are deceptively simple and easy to master. They require only a minute each — an entire routine is just five minutes a day. You can do the exercises at home, with little to no equipment, and you can easily progress with hand-held weights, if desired. In fact, short investments of time, done consistently, is the best approach, Burbank says. Good balance is beneficial for living a longer, healthier life — at any age. Check out our series featuring the latest research, a balance IQ test and simple at-home exercises. “Generally, five minutes a day is better than 30 minutes all at once if you can do it daily or at least three times a week,” Burbank says. “Because you can train the neuromuscular system by frequently challenging it. And it’s easier to progress, or become better at it, the more …

4 simple tai chi exercises that, like tai chi walking, improve balance

4 simple tai chi exercises that, like tai chi walking, improve balance

Published by Sam Flores

“Soft is strong.” That’s one of the guiding principles behind tai chi, a hundreds-year-old Chinese martial arts practice that today is considered a form of meditative movement. It’s also a “gold standard” for balance training, says Ann Swanson, a tai chi instructor and author of three mindful movement books. Good balance is beneficial for living a longer, healthier life — at any age. Check out our series featuring the latest research, a balance IQ test and simple at-home exercises. “We have decades of research. One review, in 2023, reveals that tai chi practitioners have a 24% lower relative risk of falling than older adults who don’t practice,” Swanson says. “And it’s not some boring balance training program — it’s fun and enjoyable and people actually stick with it.” Rather than focusing on explosive, fast-paced movements, tai chi is generally composed of slow, smooth, continuous movements staying within a modest range of motion. It’s especially gentle and accessible to people with disabilities, those healing injuries and older adults. Because it’s done so slowly and fluidly, emphasizing …

How skipping, hopping and other powerful exercises improve balance and prevent falls

How skipping, hopping and other powerful exercises improve balance and prevent falls

Published by Sam Flores

When was the last time you skipped rope? Or did pogo hops? Right. Everyone knows that when it comes to the body, it’s “use it or lose it.” We lose muscle mass as we get older, a condition known as sarcopenia. But we also lose muscle strength and power as we age, a condition known as dynapenia, which affects reactivity. And that plays a role in balance and fall prevention — at any age. Good balance is beneficial for living a longer, healthier life — at any age. Check out our series featuring the latest research, a balance IQ test and simple at-home exercises. “You start to lose reactivity the moment you stop moving quickly,” says Trina Altman, a personal trainer and fitness writer based in the South Bay. Plyometric exercises — explosive, fast-paced movements, like jumping, skipping, running and hopping — are critical in balance training for fall prevention, she says. “Because we lose the ability to exert force quickly as we get older. Plyometrics — involving motor control, coordination, agility and reactivity — …

Why balance is a predictor of longevity and healthy aging

Why balance is a predictor of longevity and healthy aging

Published by Sam Flores

I’m standing in a stork-like position in my living room balancing on one leg, the other leg kicked out behind me. My arms are extended at my sides and I’m leaning forward slightly — not unlike a 3-year-old pretending to be an airplane readying for takeoff. (Such is the life of a wellness writer!) The exercise is ridiculously easy. Until it’s not. I close my eyes and, suddenly, my legs wobble and my ankles quiver. I sway to the left, then to the right, before finally toppling forward. Good balance is beneficial for living a longer, healthier life — at any age. Check out our series featuring the latest research, a balance IQ test and simple at-home exercises. The single-leg activity, meant to test my balance, is giving me critical information for my future. Much to my chagrin, I failed — and if the data is any indication, living to a ripe old age isn’t as much of a given as I expected. When it comes to fitness and longevity, cardio, strength training and stretching …

The easy two-minute habit that could improve your balance in your 40s and beyond, according to physical therapists

The easy two-minute habit that could improve your balance in your 40s and beyond, according to physical therapists

Published by Jenni Sidey

We tend to think about declining balance as an issue to address when we’re older—but it’s important to bolster this skill before you start having problems. “Balance is one of the most underestimated components of physical health,” says Ashley Katzenback, doctor of physical therapy and owner of Cape Concierge Physical Therapy. “Your ability to stand on one foot requires stance strength, hip stability, ankle control, core engagement, and neurological coordination.” Latest Videos FromFit&Well Your 40s are a good time to give balance more attention, as staying steady relies on muscle strength, coordination and sensory information from your eyes, joints and inner ear—all of which are still functioning well. “These systems play a vitally important role in balance—but removing one of these adds strain to the others,” says chartered physical therapist Hassan Mohamoud from Clearcut Physiotherapy. You may like Practicing balance drills now will ensure that if one of these systems falters, the others can still support you. The balance drills These three balance snacks take just two minutes to complete. Start your week with achievable …

The weekend is 100 years old – but have ‘skiveday Fridays’ and hybrid working ruined it for everyone? | Work-life balance

The weekend is 100 years old – but have ‘skiveday Fridays’ and hybrid working ruined it for everyone? | Work-life balance

Published by Sam Flores

For 11 years, from 1929 to 1940, the Soviet Union did not have weekends. Instead, to increase productivity citizens were allocated a day off in every seven at random. With 80% of the population at work on any given day, factories never had to power down. A letter from a disgruntled worker to Pravda newspaper, published soon after the implementation of this new working calendar, outlined the problems: “What is there for us to do at home if our wives are in the factory, our children at school, and nobody can visit us?” the letter-writer asked. “It is no holiday if you have to have it alone.” Parents found themselves at home while their children were at school, or with kids unsupervised while they were on shift. With no shared day off, extended family gatherings became impossible. The workforce became demoralised and listless, the projected spike in productivity never materialised, and the policy was first modified, then abandoned altogether. Eleven years, though. Is that not absolutely wild? A world without weekends feels impossible. A world …