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THE SECRETS TO COMBATING THE EFFECTS OF AGING ON OUR MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM: PART FOUR

Coach Amy

Slow the Effects of Aging

Part 4: Balance

In Coach Amy’s series on combating the effects of aging, we’ve learned that inflammation, muscle atrophy, and cardiovascular changes hasten aging and threaten our ability to stay active. But did you know aging impacts your balance as well? You might expect deficits in balance and stability to affect your ability to safely and successfully participate in sports like golf, tennis, and running, but it can also impair your daily activities like walking your dog, playing with your grandchildren, and shopping.

But there’s good news: with simple exercises and tools, you can train your body to slow the effects of aging on balance.

In Part Four of Coach Amy’s Secrets to Combating the Effects of Aging on our Musculoskeletal System series, we learn how aging impacts balance and what you can do about it. Check out the first three articles in the series to learn how to combat the impact of aging on inflammation, muscle atrophy, and cardiovascular changes.

Aging and Balance

At around 55 years of age, balance and postural stability begin to decline. A decline in balance leads to a vicious cycle of inactivity and hastens the aging process.

As we age, three major systems of the human body that affect balance undergo decline:

  1. Sensory input

  2. Musculoskeletal function

  3. Cognitive processing

Before learning how to combat the impact of aging on balance, it can help to develop an understanding of how these three systems work and impact each other.

Sensory Input

Your vision, inner ear and pressure/joint sensors relay the information that comes from your environment.

Vision

The impact of diminished vision on balance is pretty easy to understand: just imagine walking down the stairs with your eyes closed. Clearly, actually walking down the stairs with your eyes closed is very dangerous and should not be attempted, but when you imagine doing it, you can understand how difficult it would be to safely descend the stairs without your vision.

Inner ear

It may be a little harder to appreciate how changes in the vestibular system (inner ear) affect balance. The inner ear consists of little hairs that sense the position of your head. With age, a reduction in the these hairs can lead to dizziness and unsteadiness when moving your head. It can be difficult to maintain balance during activities when you feel dizzy as you look around and take in your environment.

Pressure/Joint Sensors

Proprioception - the ability of our tendons and joints to detect information about where the body is in space. For example, if you close your eyes and your friend moves your foot, you can report, without looking, that it is pointed up or down.

Just like your vision and inner ear systems, proprioception diminishes with age. An impaired ability to perceive the position of your limbs and joints impacts your ability to successfully change position on the golf course or the tennis court or even to safely step over a curb.

Musculoskeletal Function

A decrease in muscle strength occurs with advancing age. Reductions in muscle power and explosive strength affect the body’s ability to maintain and correct posture in response to sensory input. Even when all the sensory systems are working well, a loss of balance is inevitable if aging muscles cannot adequately contract and move the body in time to respond to changes in surface or body position.

Cognitive Processing

Your brain functions as an intermediary between your sensory and musculoskeletal systems. Your sensory system detects that your body is experiencing uneven balance and communicates this to your brain. In turn, your brain commands your muscles to maintain balance quickly and correctly. 

Cognition starts to decline in your 30’s and then more rapidly once you reach 50 years of age. This decline diminishes your ability to perceive and respond to sensory input. Even if your sensory and musculoskeletal systems are strong, you can lose balance if your cognitive functioning is not working well.

Read our Slow the Effects of Aging: Cardiovascular Exercise article from our Secrets to Combating the Effects of Aging on our Musculoskeletal System series to learn how light to moderate cardiovascular exercise can help the brain.

Note: Other factors can alter balance, such as medications and other medical conditions. For example, peripheral neuropathy, common in persons with diabetes, decreases the ability of pressure receptors in the foot to detect changes in surface. 

Balance Training

Losing balance is bad news, but the good news is that it is possible to train the proprioceptive system, muscles, and brain in order to slow the effects of aging on balance.

Strength training, especially with standing exercises and specific activities related to balance and proprioception, are key to delaying and fighting the declines in balance. 

Research shows that physically active postmenopausal women (mean age 65.3 yrs) had significantly better postural stability than less active women (Brooke-Wavell et all. 2001.)

Tai Chi and yoga movement disciplines incorporate balance training, but you do not have to belong to a gym or go to a class to work on balance. You can do balance training at home.

Sample Balance Training Activities

Remember to seek advice from a doctor or your physical therapist before embarking on a new set of exercises especially if these are new to you or you have a history of injury or falls. 

Beginner

  • Walk heel toe.

  • Stand shifting weight side to side, forward and backward. 

  • Balance on one foot. 

  • Sit on a stability ball and move arms. 

Intermediate

  • Balance on one foot while moving your other leg or arms. 

  • Squat and weight shift and/or move arms while standing on uneven surfaces like a balance pad or disc.

  • Hike on an unpaved easy/mod trail.

  • Sit on a stability ball and move arms and legs. 

Advanced

Do Your Homework

Before starting any exercise routine, follow these tips:

  • Check with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.

  • Seek out coaches, personal trainers, and class instructors with superior credentials. They should hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in exercise science and/or certification from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) or the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

  • Those with special medical considerations including osteoporosis, joint replacement, and osteoarthritis should work with a physical therapist when beginning a program. 

  • If you are over age 65, check out The Exercise And Screening for You (EASY) survey, a tool that helps provide guidance on appropriate exercise programs. 

Visual Feedback Training

Exercises are not the only way to improve balance. Coach Amy is currently working with patients at the CoachAmyPT clinic using a device that provides visual feedback with balance training.

Visual feedback balance training allows patients to see and not just feel when proper strategies are being used to maintain balance. Both Coach Amy and her patients can see when parts of the foot are in contact with the ground in different positions and with various movements. She can instruct patients on various ways to stabilize, and her patient can see changes at the foot as different strategies are used correctly. 

Although aging is inevitable, balance training can help us continue to participate fully in the activities we love and those that help slow the effects of aging.

With Coach Amy’s Secrets to Combating the Effects of Aging on Our Musculoskeletal System series, you learn how to attack the impact of aging on multiple fronts:

Subscribe to our blog to catch the next post in our Secrets to Combating the Effects of Aging on Our Musculoskeletal System series in which we focus on slowing aging by increasing flexibility.