How Does Balance Effect Your Confidence?

One of the most talked about aspects of aging is our ability to maintain balance as we stand, walk, or run. But balance is about much more than our ability to stay upright and avoid a fall. It’s also about the freedom to move through the world with confidence. Does losing confidence in our ability to balance make us less confident overall? If so, then the relationship between our physical balance and psychological confidence can influence each other in many ways. Does balance effect your confidence?

The good news? Aging doesn’t automatically mean you will lose your ability to balance. But the possible changes in your strength, reaction time, muscle flexibility, vision, and sensory feedback can make balance more challenging.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” –Albert Einstein

Why Does Balance Become a Challenge as We Age?

Our ability to balance depends on a few different systems working together. It begins with something we don’t realize is happening or simply take for granted.

Your body has the ability to sense its own position, movement, and force in space without relying on your eyes. It’s often called the “sixth sense”. It is the ability to know where your body parts are. It tells your brain how your muscles and joints move in space without you needing to look at them.

The other pieces to the balance puzzle include:

• Inner ear/vestibular system which detects head motion, gravity, and spatial orientation to help your brain keep your body balanced and steady.
• Vision provides spatial awareness where your eyes track shapes, lines, and motion to tell the brain if you are upright or tilting.

• Muscles and joints work in conjunction to sense your body position, make quick adjustments to keep your center of gravity over your feet.
• Brain and nervous system continually gather body position and motion data and then send instant commands to adjust your posture and keep you steady

The good news? Balance is a skill that can be improved and then maintained.

“So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.” –Dr. Seuss

The Connection Between Confidence and Balance

When we feel physically steady and confident in our strength, we have a sense of security when we move through the world. Our brain handles balance without an “active focus.” We pay attention by looking at our surroundings and destination. And our motion is fluid with each step feeling smooth and natural. Leg strength plays a major role in our confidence.

But when we don’t feel strong, when our legs feel taxed during what was normal, relaxed motion, there is a subtle but real shift in our mindset. We shift from “I can do this” (walk confidently) to “Is this safe for me?”

We then move into a high alert mode where each step requires a conscious check from your mind. This often forces you to narrow your focus looking down at your feet or the floor in front of you. Finally, your motion becomes stiff where your muscles tighten up making you less stable.

The Fear of Falling

If you’ve ever taken a fall or have heard stories from others about their experience falling, it’s natural to become more cautious about our daily movements. Due to the stress involved, we often begin to shorten our steps, walk slower than usual, avoid certain surfaces, hold onto railings or furniture, avoid any stairs, and stop participating in activities we used to enjoy.

When we reach this level, it’s often a natural reaction to overcompensate by trying too hard to avoid falling. We second guess our movements and often change the natural way we move, making us less physically capable than we were before balance was at issue.

Healthy Caution vs Fear-Driven Avoidance

We know that avoiding movement can trigger a downward cycle of fear leading to less motion resulting in our reduced strength and balance. The end result of this cycle is less confidence in walking creating more fear in falling.

But how does a person take a healthy cautious approach without completely falling into this terrible cycle of uncertainty?

Tips for a Healthy Caution Mindset

1. Consider the difference between a fear mindset and a cautious mindset. The cautious mindset seeks answers to the problems. The fear mindset accepts the problems as insurmountable.

• Fear Mindset: You want to take a walk on a walking path, but you talk yourself out of it because you think you might fall
• Cautious Mindset: You look at the terrain of the walking path and decide the best course of action is to wear sturdy, supportive shoes and carry walking poles for added stability.

2. Update and Buy the Best Footwear and Mobility Tools

Don’t scrimp on walking shoes or sneakers. Buy the best you can afford. If it’s a pair of Hoka’s, fantastic. Just remember that the added support you are providing your body is important.

• Mobility tools like a cane can provide the level of confidence you need but if that’s not enough look into walking poles. If you need a walker to move, consider switching to a rollator a sturdier piece of equipment which allows you to roll along and then stop and sit when necessary.

3. Scan the Environment Before Moving

Simple but effective. Don’t start walking until you have taken a close look at the path you will travel. Do this by looking ahead and not down at your feet. Scan 3-5 feet ahead.

4. Practice, Practice, Practice

Choose where you want to go, walking path, lawn, dirt road and rather than attempt the entire journey break it up. Take a short journey and assess how you felt. Build your confidence by taking the same walk or building upon your first experience with a walk that is slightly farther.

When Fear Hits

If you suddenly feel panic and fear moving forward simply stop and stand completely still. Take a few deep breaths to slow down your heart rate. Closely monitor how these steps are affecting you. When you move through the panic stage and you feel ready to move on, consciously relax your shoulders and knees before taking your next step.

Confidence Tests: Standing and Walking

Before we can assess our ability to move, we need to understand our beginning point. What level is your ability to stand and walk? Once you have your beginning point, then exercises can be recommended to improve or maintain your ability for movement.

Standing

Before you can feel confident walking without falling, begin by assessing your ability to stand upright from a seated position. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) supports the 5-Times Sit-to-Stand Test which measures “functional lower limb muscle strength.”

Begin the test seated in a standard-height chair. Fold your arms flat over your chest to prevent using your hands to help in the movement. Using a timer, measure how many seconds it takes you to stand up straight and then sit back down five times. Perform the movement as fast and safely as you can. If you require 12 seconds or longer to finish the five repetitions, this indicates a lower level of leg strength and possibly a higher risk for balance issues.

Note: Be kind to yourself and actually practice before testing. Even though we sit to stand multiple times per day we need practice to adequately prepare for this test.

Walking

The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is widely endorsed and recommended as a standard screening tool to measure walking ability by major health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Begin the test seated. Place a marker 10 feet from your chair as the destination. Then start the timer and stand up from your seated position, walk at a normal pace to the 10 foot destination, turn around, and walk back at a normal pace taking your seat.

If it took you 12 seconds or longer to complete this task, then health organizations consider it a possible sign of impaired mobility and an increased risk of falling.

Improve Ability to Stand and Walk

Below are some basic but effective exercises you can begin to help you improve your confidence in standing and walking.

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” –Lao Tzu

Standing Exercises

These exercises are designed to help you with the control needed to stand, remain stable, while strengthening your muscles:

Single-Leg Stand: Stand next to a wall or chair so that support is available should you need it. Briefly raise your foot up to a comfortable height and hold. Begin with 10 seconds and work up to 30 seconds.

Heel Raise: In a standing position, raise up onto the balls of your feet and hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10-15 times per set. This helps strengthen your calve muscles while working on your balance.

Sit-to-Stand from a Chair: Repeat standing up and sitting down. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) and others recommend this as a foundational balance/strength exercise.

Walking Exercises

Lower body strength training plays an integral role in building confidence for walking. It also has a direct correlation to our longevity. Let’s look at a few exercises.

Weighted Squats: One of the most impactful exercises for building strength in the quadriceps, gluts, and hips. You can do these holding light dumbbells or without. Building strength in these three areas will impact your confidence, standing, walking, climbing stairs, and ability to recover from stumbling.

Sit-to-Stands: As discussed earlier, this exercise supplements squat exercises by also building quads, hips, and glutes.

Weighted Calf Raises: Holding light dumbbells or a support, lift your heels off the floor by raising up on the balls of your feet. This will work the calf muscles directly.

What Does This Mean to You?

How does balance effect your confidence? We know it’s key to movement, key to longevity, and key to maintaining your independence. Balance is the foundation for movement, walking, and freely exploring the world. Susan Hanshaw National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer and Senior Fitness Specialist.

“Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” –Betty Friedan