The best balance exercise includes real-life movements that challenge you just the right amount.

The best way to improve your balance is to almost lose it, on purpose, in a safe environment.

Check out the video to see examples.

The best balance exercise includes working safely at the edge of your comfort zone. The problem is that many balance exercise programs, especially designed for seniors, don’t offer realistic movements to challenge the balance muscles and balance systems.  

The need for lifelike, moving balance exercises is based on three scientific principles:

1. Principle of Specificity: The best balance exercise program prepares you for real life! Because we get better at whatever we practice, we need to practice overcoming challenging situations like tripping and stepping over obstacles.
2. Principle of Neuroplasticity: Our brains and our bodies need two things: repetition and novelty. We need to repeatedly practice movements that we want to ingrain into our muscles and brains, and we need to consistently challenge our bodies and brains in new ways. 
3. Principle of Overload: If we never push the edge of our comfort zone, or training threshhold, we do not get stronger. We lose bone and muscle mass as we age, and we absolutely must challenge ourselves with balance exercises that really make us work at our personal edge.

My goal for my students is that they are prepared for life’s challenges by practicing the best balance exercise program several times per week.

You might also benefit from this blog post about bone density tests.

In this post you can learn

• the difference between low bone density and fracture risk
• what your scores mean when you have a bone density scan
• some questions to ask your doctor when you are getting tested for bone density

When you get your results back from a bone mineral density (BMD) test, and your doctor tells you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, it is not a doomed sentence to breaking a bone. Bone mineral density tests, or DXA scans, test one thing – bone mineral density. They do not show how flexible or resilient your bones are, nor the make-up, such as the amount or quality of collagen in your bones.

Fracture risk, on the other hand, is way more complex. It’s dynamic, and changes with lifestyle adjustments. Here are just a few of the factors in fracture risk:

• age
• previous fracture
• gender
• ethnicity
• certain prescription medications
• weight under 127 pounds
• height over 5’7″
• diet
• exercise
• family history
• sleep and stress

Because fracture risk is much more holistic, dynamic and complex, it is harder to measure. 

DEXA scans give you two scores:

T Score compares you to the mean BMD of caucasian women between 20-30 years old. If you are a smaller than average person with smaller than average bones, you will likely have a low bone mineral density score.

Z score compares you to people of your same gender, ethnicity and age range, but not to people of your same height or weight. 

So neither score is truly “apples to apples.”

Here are some other things to know bone health tests.

• If you have lost height, have excess curve in your upper back, or have had back pain, request a Vertebral Fracture Assessment to check the upper spine. This can be done at the same time as your hip and lumbar spine in the DEXA scanner.
• Request a FRAX, fracture risk assessment, for post-menopausal women over 40 who are not taking osteoporosis drugs. Do this before taking any prescription medications.
• If you live in the same place, request your follow up scan to be on the same machine in the same lab. Scanners vary much like scales.
• Request your scan in the same month as your previous one.
• Don’t take calcium supplements on the day of your test.

Even though you cannot control everything about the aging process and your bones, the good news is that you CAN improve your bones and your balance at any age.

Do you get stiff hips when you travel?

Check out this post for a hip stretch you can use when travelling, or anytime.

Whether it’s sitting in a plane or car, or sitting around the dinner table with loved ones, there’s a lot of sitting at the holidays!

Watch the video below to see my #1 fastest, easiest travel hip stretch that requires no equipment, not even stretch pants!

This stretch helps “undo” some of sitting’s after-effects and it helps you have better posture! 

Motion is lotion.

Whether you get up and stretch, get up and walk, or get up to hug, the important thing is to get up!

You may have heard that “sitting is the new smoking.” Here’s a Mayo Clinic article that lays out the risks of sitting.

I’d like to help you keep moving over the holidays. Download a 60 minute guided yoga practice with me right here. This download will keep you moving with a gentle yoga practice and can be played on your computer or phone.