[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/improve-balance-to-reduce-falls-and-fractures\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/improve-balance-to-reduce-falls-and-fractures\/","headline":"Improve balance to reduce falls and fractures","name":"Improve balance to reduce falls and fractures","description":"Print PDF eBook Facebook Twitter Gmail LinkedIn Pinterest Become a Patron! If you stop to think about it, maintaining our upright human posture on two legs is pretty tricky! Staying balanced requires instantaneous coordinated efforts from the brain, muscles, nervous system, ears, eyes and even the joints. Most of us manage good balance effortlessly (for […]","datePublished":"2015-06-08","dateModified":"2026-04-22","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/#Person","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/","identifier":72,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Center for Better Bones","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","width":150,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/balance-BB-Blog-5-20.jpg","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/balance-BB-Blog-5-20.jpg","height":1109,"width":2120},"url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/improve-balance-to-reduce-falls-and-fractures\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_t8WJZSePr4#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_t8WJZSePr4","name":"Tips for Better Balance","description":"Dr. Brown describes why balance is important to avoiding needless fractures and some simple tips and exercises that you can do at home using just  yourself or with a balance pad.\n\n\u2192 Want to learn everything you need to manage & reverse your osteoporosis\/osteopenia naturally in one inspiring weekend with Dr. Brown? Join our bone health retreat & workshop! Learn more here: https:\/\/shop.betterbones.com\/pages\/love-your-bones-love-your-life-virtual-retreat\n\n\u2192 If you are interested in working with Dr. Brown to develop a personalized natural bone health program, read more about consultations here: https:\/\/www.betterbones.com\/consultations\/help-osteoporosis-osteopenia-fracture-healing-bone-health-concerns\/\n\n\u2192 Would you like your questions answered by Dr. Brown?  Comment below and she may address them in a future video!\n\nCheck out our website! \u2192 http:\/\/ www.betterbones.com\n\nWant to connect with Better Bones on social media?\nLike on Facebook \u2192 http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bFollow on Twitter \u2192 http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/drsusanbrown\n\u200bFollow our Instagram \u2192 http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bCheck out our Pinterest \u2192 http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\n#osteoporosis #osteopenia #bonemass #bonehealth #weightandbonemass #womenshealth #drsusanbrown #betterbonesbetterbody #preventosteoporosis\nExercise for bone health: patreon.com\/betterbones\n\nTranscription:\nhi again this is Susan Brown at the\nCenter for better bones today I'm here\nwith Gina Kelly our fitness expert and\nwe're going to talk about the\nfascinating topic of balance if you\nthink about it it's really fair to say\nthat the vast majority of fractures\nwould not occur except for the fact that\npeople fall without Falls you would have\nmany less fractures and of course one of\nthe keys to preventing Falls is having\ngood balance you might have noticed\nyourself that balance can change during\nyour life and you can you can you can\nlose that real sensitivity to balance\njust a little bit as we age and so today\nI want to show you some simple exercises\nyou can do to enhance balance we have\nyou you probably have all heard and I\ndon't know just happen to you Gina but\nin high school your friends you know\ndrinking too much and you get picked up\nfor drinking and driving and the\npoliceman says okay walk the line now\nthis is a very simple balance exercise\nbut you actually well can you show them\nhow it is where you actually put one\nfoot in front of the other now this\nlooks really simple but it's actually\nnot that simple especially if you're a\nlittle tipsy but we wanted we want to\nmaintain our balance and a simple way is\nto practice that little exercise there's\nmany other exercises like some of them\nare the typical one is standing on one\nleg\nyou know why do you show a few\nvariations of that okay so just lifting\nup one leg just living the light your\nhands on your hips you can bring one arm\nup the opposite of the leg and then more\nchallenging is actually the same arm on\nthe same side as the leg that you are\nlifting up yes because then you have all\nthe weight on that one side and it's\nparticularly challenging if you have one\narm out and then move either the arm or\nthe leg Gina is a real expert yoga\nteacher so she's better at this than\nmost of us but if we can do one leg\nmaybe with some motion of that leg\nwith one arm maybe even the same arm\nthat you're lifting like terrific\nand let's just another really more\ndifficult one even for the people that\nfeel hey I'm ready for better challenge\nwith balance well we have our straight\npose very well known in yoga classes so\nyou can start out with that just a basic\nsimple train so we didn't put down low\nyou can bring your foot down you know\neven kickstand it on the floor or to the\nankle or move it up to the shin and then\nof course even higher up and then extend\nthe arms up right now that's a very\ntricky balance some of you may do that\nin your class but that's a great a great\nbalance exercise so all those are things\nyou can you can easily do at home\nwithout any equipment I wanted to say\nthat we have found a wonderful piece of\nexercise equipment for balance and this\nis the better bones balance board and\nthis is interesting this is a very dense\nfoam pad that actually provides a\nsurface that is not stable and so it\nreally challenge you to maintain\nstability when I first saw this I said\nhey how difficult can this be seen it\njust show them you just step up on it\nyou say hey how difficult can that be\nfeels nice and comfortable at swimming\nbut then you notice that if you start to\nmove about it's a little more difficult\nit definitely is and then when you do\nstart to balance for example on one foot\nit is more challenging because you have\nto find that centering as well as it\ncauses your muscles to kind of fire and\nyou know you have to kind of interact\nwith your calf muscles your thigh\nmuscles your ankle yeah so many muscles\nare being threatened just a little tiny\nshift a little tiny shift so let's show\nthem a couple things","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_t8WJZSePr4\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_t8WJZSePr4\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_t8WJZSePr4\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_t8WJZSePr4\/sddefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_t8WJZSePr4\/maxresdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2015-05-15T15:33:54+00:00","duration":"PT7M43S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_t8WJZSePr4","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown","description":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD, is a medical anthropologist, a New York State Certified Nutritionist, and the author of Better Bones, Better Body -- the first comprehensive look at natural bone health. Dr. Brown specializes in osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone health regeneration, and auto-immune disease. She is also famous for her natural approach to bone health; check out her Better Bones programs and products.","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/ytc\/AIdro_m0l08uY9k8RO1FbN8-VsYIOa8fiq9BtocNNM_k3xw7a7s=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_t8WJZSePr4#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_t8WJZSePr4#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_t8WJZSePr4&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_t8WJZSePr4#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":14188}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_t8WJZSePr4#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":23}]},"about":["Exercise"],"wordCount":230,"keywords":["exercise","fracture risk","balance"],"articleBody":" Print PDF eBook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGmail\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPinterest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBecome a Patron!If you stop to think about it, maintaining our upright human posture on two legs is pretty tricky! Staying balanced requires instantaneous coordinated efforts from the brain, muscles, nervous system, ears, eyes and even the joints.Most of us manage good balance effortlessly (for the most part) until we start to age. Then changes to our vision, ear canal issues, muscle loss and medication use can cause decline in our balance. Missteps come more easily, tripping is more common and recovery is more difficult.\u00a0 You might have noticed that walking on uneven ground is a bit more challenging, or that you are less stable walking in the dark.All these are signals reminding us to tone up our balance, and the good news is that everyone can improve balance dramatically with just a few simple, mindful exercises. Cultivating good balance should be central to everyone\u2019s bone health program. In fact, studies repeatedly show that balance improvement \u2014 through tai chi, yoga, strength training or simple balance exercises \u2014 even reduces fracture rates.In the video below, our fitness expert Gina Galli and I demonstrate a few simple activities that can help you regain excellent balance right now.\u00a0 We also demonstrate a new Better Bones balance gadget that I really like \u2014 the OPTP Pro Balance Pad.\u00a0 Hope you enjoy our demo!"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Exercise","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Improve balance to reduce falls and fractures","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/improve-balance-to-reduce-falls-and-fractures\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]