Balance is much deeper than standing on one leg. Balance is your ability to experience a perturbation (a disturbance that challenges your balance) and safely recover, and being stronger is your best insurance policy for staying on your feet.

The Muscles Responsible for Keeping You Stable.

All of the muscles that control your pelvis play the most important role in keeping you strong, stable and upright – Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and spinal erectors. Keeping them strong and healthy is the main focus for my clients. Training these muscles is the most reliable way to go from “I fell this week” to “I just went for a hike and wasn’t afraid of falling”

How to Make Your Lower Body Stronger.

This is the part that most people get wrong. Leg and hip muscles require heavy weight and high intensity to make meaningful progress, but the world of senior strength training is crowded with low intensity “safe” exercise. Intense strength training is safe and effective at any age. Fiatarone et al. (1994) ran 100 nursing home residents through an 8 week high intensity strength training program. The average participant was 87, the oldest was 98. The average participant increased their strength by 113%. This is a life changing improvement in strength.


Strength = Balance. Balance does not equal balance.

Balancing on one leg does not improve your balance. It improves your ability to balance on one leg. Strength improves your speed of muscle contraction and your ability to produce force. If you trip (because we all do) being stronger will allow you to get your feet underneath you again, and actually catch you before you hit the ground. The recovery process involves fast, powerful coordinated muscle contractions that traditional balance training doesn’t address. Practicing fast, powerful and coordinated muscle contractions is the only way to build up this safety net.

Start Today.

Start slow, but progress quickly. Find a good coach, or at the very least, hop on your favorite leg exercise machine and perform sets of 10 repetitions adding weight until it becomes moderately challenging. Next week, try to beat that number. That’s it. That’s the recipe for improving your balance.