Balance Practice Isn't Child's Play

Indiana University at Bloomingdale

A recent study shows that even for Baby Boomers, balance training can be a big fitness plus.

Balance has less to do with strength and everything to do with an elderly person's ability to get around and live independently. Yet, few people in their later years think to practice balancing--until it's too late.

A fall that involves broken bones, aside from potentially leading to death, often results in a dramatic decline in mobility, health, independence and quality of life, even after the breaks heal.

Practicing three balance postures for just 15 minutes a day, four days a week, improved the balance of 55- to 60-year-old participants in an Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) study that looked at whether a home-based program could improve balance.

The IUB researchers were intrigued by the prospect of a home-based balance training program, as opposed to physical therapy, which often involves costs and travel.

The pose--forward knee lift, side leg lift, stork stance--can be practiced alone or incorporated into an existing physical fitness regimen.

Before trying these at home, a person should consider the following:

• Anyone who has had a stroke or has an existing gait problem or diabetes should discuss the poses with his or her physician.
• Study participants were fairly fit to begin with. The research was geared toward helping people with their balance before it becomes problematic.

Before and after the six-week balance regimen, researchers carefully measured the participants' balancing abilities, including sway patterns, and found that the speed at which the participants swayed actually increased by the end of the six-week study--and this is a good thing.

Doctoral student Koichi Kitano said the increased velocity of the participants' sway patterns increased their stability.

David Koceja, a professor in IU Bloomington's Department of Kinesiology, said sway patterns change as people age. For senior citizens, their sway patterns are likely to be more circular.

Koceja said he expected the balance poses in the study to reduce the amount of the troublesome side to side sway in study participants. Instead, the participants saw an average increase, or improvement, in their sway speed of 16 percent. "We took the balance system and instead of being more sluggish, it became more flexible and adaptive," Koceja said.

For More Information....

To read more about Dr. Koceja's research into the vital place of physical activity in healthy aging, see "Lives in the Balance" in Indiana University's Research & Creative Activity.

Photo: George Summers

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