A fall rarely starts on the ground. It starts long before, when your foot stops reacting as quickly to a misjudged step, when getting up from a chair starts needing help from your arms, or when you no longer walk on a wet street with the confidence you used to.
The good news is that balance can be trained, just like strength. It's not a gift you either have or don't, nor something you lose for good as the years go by. In this article we explain why it's lost, how you can test it at home in under a minute, and eight exercises organised by level so you can start today, on your own or with someone you love.
Why balance is lost
Staying upright is teamwork between three systems: your eyes, your inner ear and the sensors in your feet, ankles and joints. Your brain combines the information from all three and tells your muscles to correct your position, many times per second, without you noticing.
Over time, and especially with little movement, this system gets slower:
- Muscles lose strength and power. Age-related muscle loss has a name, sarcopenia, and it particularly affects the legs and hips, the ones that catch you when you trip.
- Joints lose range. A stiff ankle or a locked hip reacts later and corrects less. We covered this in the article on joint mobility.
- Reflexes slow down. If you don't challenge your balance day to day, you stop training it, and your body adjusts to the little we ask of it.
None of these three is inevitable. All three respond to training.
What the guidelines say
The World Health Organization is clear. In its 2020 physical activity guidelines, it asks people aged 65 and over to do, on three or more days a week, “multicomponent” activity that emphasises functional balance and strength training, at moderate or greater intensity, to improve functional capacity and prevent falls. This comes on top of aerobic activity, such as walking.
And the reason is in the numbers. According to the WHO, around 71% of deaths from falls in 2023 happened in people aged 60 or over, and exercise that challenges balance is among the measures that work: a Cochrane review concluded that exercise reduced the number of falls by around 23% in the people studied.
You don't have to wait until 65 to start. The earlier you train, the more reserve you build for later. It's the same reasoning we set out in the article on training after 50.
Test your balance at home
Before choosing the exercises, it is worth knowing where you are starting from. These two tests can be done at home, next to a worktop or a wall, so you can hold on if you need to.
Test 1: standing on one leg
Barefoot, standing, hands on your hips. Lift one foot off the floor and hold, without your standing foot moving. Count the seconds. Repeat on the other leg.
A study published in 2022 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, with adults aged 51 to 75, used exactly the 10 seconds benchmark: those who could not hold it had a higher health risk in the following years. It is not a diagnosis, but it is a good compass. If you cannot reach 10 seconds, or if there is a big difference between your two legs, balance should become part of your training right away.
Test 2: getting up from a chair
Sit on a chair without armrests, with your arms crossed over your chest. Stand up fully and sit back down, five times in a row, as fast as you safely can. Notice whether you need your arms, whether you lose your balance as you stand, or whether your legs shake at the end.
This test measures leg strength, which is half of fall prevention. Balance without strength isn't enough to recover from a stumble.
Eight balance exercises, from easiest to most demanding
Do these exercises barefoot or in thin-soled shoes, on a firm floor, with a chair, a worktop or a wall within reach. Start at the level where you feel safe and only move on when the previous one has felt easy for a whole week.
Level 1: with support
1. Weight shift. Standing, feet hip-width apart, slowly shift your body weight onto your right foot, then onto your left. Then forwards and backwards, without lifting your heels or toes. 30 to 60 seconds.
2. Calf raises. With your hands resting on the worktop, rise onto your toes and lower slowly. It strengthens the calf and ankle, which are the first to react when your foot slips. 2 sets of 10 to 15.
3. Sit to stand. The chair test, now as an exercise. Lower slowly, over three seconds, and stand up with purpose. If you need to, start with your hands on your knees. 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 10.
Level 2: with less support
4. Single-leg stand. With one finger touching the wall, hold on one leg for 20 to 30 seconds on each side. When it gets easy, take your finger off the wall.
5. Walk in a line. Walk forwards placing the heel of one foot right against the toes of the other, as if on an imaginary tightrope. Look ahead, not at your feet. 10 to 20 steps, there and back.
6. Side steps, with or without a band. Step sideways slowly, keeping your feet parallel and your torso upright. It works the muscles on the outside of the hip, the ones that catch you when your body tips sideways. 10 steps each way, twice.
Level 3: with a challenge
7. Single-leg stance with movement. Standing on one leg, tap the other foot in front, to the side and behind, like the hands of a clock. Or, if that's easy, do the single-leg stance with your eyes closed, always next to a wall. 3 to 5 rounds per leg.
8. Forward lunge and return. Take a long step forward, bend both knees as far as feels comfortable and come back to the starting position in one movement. If that's hard, start with just the long step and the return, without bending. 6 to 8 per leg.
A simple plan for the week
| What to do | How long | |
|---|---|---|
| Three days a week | The exercises for your level, plus more leg strength (sit-to-stand, calf raises) | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Every day | A balance exercise built into your routine: stand on one leg while you brush your teeth or wait for the kettle | 2 to 3 minutes |
| On most days | Walking at a pace where you can still talk | 30 minutes |
The most important thing is regularity. Ten minutes three times a week for three months does more for your balance than an hour every now and then.
Mistakes that cost you results (or raise the risk)
- Training with nothing nearby to hold on to. The goal is to challenge your balance, not to fall while training it. Always have a bench or a wall within reach.
- Moving up a level too soon. If the exercise still makes you wobble a lot, it's still teaching you something. Stay with it.
- Training only balance and forgetting strength. Without strong legs, there is no reaction that will catch you. The two go together.
- Always doing the same thing. The body adapts quickly. Change the surface, the base of support, the arm position or where you look to keep progressing.
- Ignoring warning signs. Frequent dizziness, recent unexplained falls or conditions that affect balance call for a chat with your doctor before you start.
On your own at home or with a coach?
The exercises in this article can be done at home, and they're a good start. But there are three things that are hard to achieve on your own:
- Know where you really stand. An assessment by a professional shows what needs more attention: strength, mobility, balance, or all three.
- Progress safely. Progression is what brings results, and it's where most mistakes happen when nobody's watching.
- Staying consistent. Training with other people, at a set time, is what makes a plan last months and not weeks.
Balance and strength in Longevity at Revolution
At Revolution, in Buarcos, balance is one of the five things every Longevity class works on, alongside mobility, strength in everyday movements, conditioning at a controlled intensity and recovery. Classes last 60 minutes, are in groups and always have a coach present, who adjusts each exercise to your starting point.
And you don't get in by age, you get in by assessment. It all starts with a free 30-minute fitness assessment, where the coach measures your strength, mobility and balance, and gets to know your history and goals. That's what points you to the right class, which could be Longevity or another class at Revolution. If you want to know how other people your age train, also read our article on training for seniors in Figueira da Foz.
Your first class is free and requires no experience at all. See the Longevity classes on the timetable, check the plans on prices, with no small print, and book your class on contacts.
Frequently asked questions
At what age should I start training my balance?
There's no minimum age. The WHO recommends balance and strength training specifically from 65 onwards, but the sooner you start, the more reserve you build. After 50 it already makes perfect sense to include it in your training.
How many times a week should I do balance exercises?
The WHO recommendation for people aged 65 or over is three or more days a week, combining balance and strength. Small daily exercises, like standing on one leg, help keep the habit going between sessions.
Are balance exercises useful for people who have already fallen?
Yes, and they are often one of the most important parts of recovery. But anyone who has fallen recently, or without knowing why, should talk to their doctor first to understand the cause before starting.
Is walking enough to improve balance?
Walking is great for heart health and you should keep doing it. But it does not challenge balance or strength enough to prevent falls. That is why the WHO calls for activity with an emphasis on balance and strength, on top of aerobic activity.
