Strength Training to Improve Balance

Balance is SO important to prevent falls and therefore injuries that keep us from enjoying life's many sweet adventures. What areas should we focus on strengthening to improve balance?

When balance is shaky, the first step is strengthening the hips and ankles. Your ankles are constantly adjusting to keep you stable, so stability at that joint is key for good balance. Your glutes (particularly the gluteus medius/muscles at the sides of your hips) help keep you upright and makes sure that your opposite hip doesn’t collapse down when you’re on one leg.

Oh, and why is it so important to be able to stand on one leg anyway? You have to do it with every step you take! The better your balance on one leg, the better it is on two legs and the less likely your are too loose your balance in any situation.

In this video, I show a few of my favorite hip and ankle strengtheners for balance! 🙂

By improving your balance with these strengthening exercises, you can feel more confident moving around day to day! Start with these and then begin to incorporate balance specific progressions that I will get to in a future blog post. Happy Training!

If you're looking for more guidance in your balance training routine, check out my free Balance Basics class! If you're ready to invest in a personalized exercise program, you can also reach out to me to schedule a free consultation here.