Balance Exercises Following A Stroke

Balance Exercises Help Individuals After A Stroke

The incidence of strokes occurring in America is on the rise. Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, and impaired balance after stroke is strongly associated with future function and recovery. Until recently there has been limited evidence to
support the use of balance exercises to improve balance performance in this population. One of the complications of a stroke is weakness in one side of the body as well as balance problems standing and walking. Research has shown that balance exercises can help improve balance following a stroke. Lubetzky-Vilnai A. and Kartin D. did a review of research to evaluate recent evidence related to the effect of balance exercises on balance performance among individuals poststroke across the continuum of recovery.

Results Of Balance Exercises Following A Stroke

We found moderate evidence that balance performance can be improved following individual, "one-on-one" balance exercises for participants in the acute stage of stroke, and either one-on-one balance exercises or group therapy for participants with subacute or chronic stroke. Moderate evidence also suggests that in the acute stage, intensive balance exercises for 2 to 3 times per week may be sufficient. Conclusions: This review supports the use of balance exercises to improve balance performance for individuals with moderately severe stroke.

Balance Exercises Can Be Found In The Exercise For Balance DVD

Whether you have experienced a stroke or whether you struggle with balance secondary to age, illness or injury, the Exercise For Balance DVD is the perfect tool for you to use at home to practice daily balance exercises to improve balance and reduce the risk of falling. The Exercise For Balance DVDincludes instruction in how to balance and which balance exercises to perform. To order your Exercise For Balance DVD click on the BUY NOW link at the top of the page or see

http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now

Balance Exercises For Single Leg Stance

Single Leg Stance Balance Exercises

Being able to balance on one leg is essential for many of our daily activities including walking, stair climbing and reaching. Doing balance exercises on a daily basis can improve balance and reduce the risk of falling. Single leg balance exercises is one of the foundational balance exercises to perform.

Criteria For Single Leg Balance Exercises

Stand on one leg, place your arms across your chest with your hands touching your shoulders and do not let your legs touch each other. Look straight ahead with your eyes open and focus on an object about 3 feet in front of you. Ideally do this with the shoes off.

Criteria to stop timing the test:

The legs touched each other, the feet moved on the floor, their foot touches down, or the arms moved from their start position.

Criteria For Single Leg Balance Exercises With Eyes Closed

Stand on one leg, place your arms across your chest with your hands touching your shoulders and do not let your legs touch each other. Close your eyes once you have gotten in position. Ideally do this with the shoes off and be about 3 feet from any wall.

Results For Single Leg Balance Exercises

Timed single leg stance (SLS) has been correlated with amplitude and speed of sway in people without disease (Billek, 1990). The ability to maintain SLS generally decreases with increasing age. Single leg stance has been shown to improve over the course of 6 months of rehabilitation by working on balance exercises. Price and MacLeod found that older adults in the community could maintain SLS for 10 sec about 89% of the time and nursing home residents for 45% of the time.

Criteria For Single Leg Balance Exercises
Timed single leg stance (SLS) has been correlated with amplitude and speed of sway in people without disease (Billek, 1990). The ability to maintain SLS generally decreases with increasing age. Single leg stance has been shown to improve over the course of 6 months of rehabilitation by working on balance exercises. Price and MacLeod found that older adults in the community could maintain SLS for 10 sec about 89% of the time and nursing home residents for 45% of the time.

Instruction For Single Leg Stance Balance Exercises

In the Exercise For Balance DVD you will learn balance exercises including single leg stance exercises to help improve balance and decrease falls. You can order your Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOWbutton on the top right of the page or go to http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now

Start your exercises for balance today!

Balance Training To Make Balance a Sixth Sense

Balance Training Can Help Make Balance A Sixth Sense

Balance training involves many of our senses including vision and the sense of touch. Exercises for balance performed on a regular basis can help to make balance a sixth sense for us. One of the key balance training techniques is to use the sense of touch between our feet and the ground to help stabilize us. As we focus on using that sense of touch, it can become like a sixth sense to help steady us in times of challenged balance.

Balance Training Involves Our Sense Of Vision

Another one of the senses that we use in balance training to keep us from falling is our vision. Actually, our vision is our primary sense for balance. Our brain takes in sensory information from our eyes, vestibular system and sensory system, primarily the sense of touch between our feet and the ground. The brain integrates all that information and then sends a signal to our body via the motor system.

Balance Training Integrates Sensory Information Into A Sixth Sense

With regular balance training, the brain is able to integrate the incoming sensory information into a strong sixth sense for balance. To develop a sixth sense, we must perform specific balance exercises with specific balance techniques. The Exercise For Balance DVD includes instruction on how to balance and which balance exercises to perform for daily balance training. By practicing with the Exercise For Balance DVDyou will develop that sixth sense for balance and reduce your risk for falling. Get your Exercises For Balance DVD today by clicking on BUY NOW at the top of the page or see

http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now

Start Balance Training for better health!

Balance Exercises For Seniors

Standing Balance Exercises For Seniors

A healthy person usually takes his or her sense of balance for granted. Most people don't find it difficult to walk across a gravel driveway, transition from walking on the sidewalk to the grass, or get out of bed in the middle of the night without stumbling or feeling unsteady. As we age, however, our balance abilities become compromised as the balance system composed of our eyes, ears and sense of touch from our feet diminish in their abilities. As a result, most people over the age of sixty do not balance as well as they did in their younger years. Consequently, balance exercises for seniors are important to perform everyday to maximize balance reactions and decrease the risk of falling.

Easy Standing Balance Test To Adjust Balance Exercises For Seniors

There are several standing balance tests to determine the level of ones balance abilities and the need for balance exercises for seniors or those hampered by injury or disease.

1. Standing Unsupported (Static Balance Test)
INSTRUCTIONS: Stand still for 2 minutes without holding onto anything.
SCORE: GOOD = Able to stand safely for 2 minutes without wavering.
NEEDS A LITTLE WORK = Able to stand unsupported for 2 minutes, but you felt unsteady.
FAIR = Able to stand unsupported for 30 seconds, but you felt unsteady.
POOR = Needed several tries before you could stand unsupported for 30 seconds.
VERY POOR = Unable to stand unsupported for 30 seconds.
Special Note: If you scored fair or worse on this test, DO Not do the rest of the tests on this page. Have balance testing done by your physician and physical therapist instead.

2. Standing Unsupported, Eyes Closed (Static Balance Test)

INSTRUCTIONS: Close your eyes and stand still for 10 seconds without holding onto anything.
SCORE: GOOD = Able to stand unsupported for 10 seconds safely.
NEEDS A LITTLE WORK = Able to stand unsupported for 10 seconds but you felt unsteady.
FAIR = Able to stand unsupported for 3 seconds.
POOR = Unable to keep eyes closed for 3 seconds because you felt unsafe, but you stayed standing unsupported once you opened your eyes.
VERY POOR = you felt like you were beginning to lose your balance and your friend had to steady you.
Special Note: If you scored fair or worse on this test, you can try the next balance tests but don't do them with your eyes closed.

Balance Exercises For Seniors On The Exercise For Balance DVD

If you tried the standing balance test and struggled with maintaining your balance, the Exercise For Balance DVD is just for you. The Exercise For Balance DVD includes specific teaching on how to balance and the best balance exercises for seniors to practice everyday. Order your Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button at the top or see

http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now

Balance Exercises To Navigate Curbs

Balance Exercises For Curbs

All of us at times must face the challenge of going up and down curbs. Curbs are challenging because they do not provide any handrails or upper extremity support. Here is a short video to explain some of the concepts we will discuss for balance on curbs.

Click here to watch the 10 second video: Balance Training for Curbs

Balance Exercises To Be Safe On Curbs

As you can see in the video, going up and down curbs involves both static and dynamic balance. We must be able to stand on one leg ( static balance) while moving the other leg (dynamic balance) to ascend and descend curbs without falling. Static and dynamic balance are key concepts for improving balance. Daily balance exercises must include standing on one foot to improve static balance. Also, dynamic balance exercises like tandem walking need to be practiced everyday. Additionally, while moving up and down curbs, we must concentrate on the sense of touch between our feet and the ground to keep our balance point centered and to prevent falling.

Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

Now there is a perfect tool to use at home to learn how to maintain your balance point, how to perform static balance exercises and how to do dynamic balance exercises that will improve your balance and keep you safe on curbs. The Exercise For Balance DVD has instruction from an expert Physical Therapist to show you each one of those balance exercises as well as balance techniques like finding your center balance point. Order your Exercise For Balance DVD today by clicking on the BUY NOW button at the top right of the page or see

http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now

Start your balance exercises today and be safe on curbs!

Balance Training In The Real World

Balance Training In The Great Outdoors

Just for fun , today lets look at balance training and balance exercises in the great outdoors.

Video 13 (trimmed-6) Here is a short video to demonstrate balance exercises for balance training in the woods. The video demonstrates some basic principles of balance and balance training. As the hiker walks along the logs, you can see that it is imperative for her to concentrate on the sense of touch between her feet and the logs. Using that sense of touch is essential to all of us to not only maintain but also to improve balance whether we are at home doing activities like walking up stairs or in the woods crossing a stream on a log.

Components Of Balance Training In The Wild

Concentrating on the sense of touch between our feet and the underlying surface is a specific part of balance training. Another component of balance training is to adjust the base of support to make the balance exercise more challenging. The easiest form of balance training is to stand with feet shoulder width apart and eyes open. A more difficult balance exercise is to stand with one foot directly behind the other, touching heel to toe. In that tandem position, you are in what we call a narrow base of support, much like the hiker on the video. That tandem position will really challenge your balance. Doing balance exercises in a tandem position will gradually improve balance over time. Consequently, all balance training should include tandem balance exercises.

Balance Training With The Exercise For Balance DVD

In the Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn the best balance exercises, including tandem balance activities. The DVD is set up to challenge your balance at many different levels, allowing you to improve balance through specific balance training. Get your Exercise For Balance DVD now by clicking on the BUY NOW button at the top right of the page or see

http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now

Start your balance training today and have fun!!!

Exercises For Balance With Cognitive Training

Performing Exercises For Balance While Doing Cognitive Tasks

often times we are required to maintain balance while we are busy thinking about other things. How often do you go for a walk and think about the kids, work, or what to have for dinner? When was the last time you walked downstairs while thinking about what errands to run, what laundry to put in the washer, or what time your appointment is? All through the day, we are constantly combining cognitive takss with balance tasks.

Practicing Exercises For Balance With Thinking Tasks Improve Balance

A study was done by Silsupadol P, Shumway-Cook A, Lugade V, van Donkelaar P, Chou LS, Mayr U, to show that our balance abilities decline while we are simultaneously performing cognitive tasks. This study looked at the "Effects of single-task versus dual-task training on balance performance in older adults" and the need for exercises for balance. In general the study showed that Participants in all groups improved on the Berg Balance Test and walked significantly faster after training with specific exercises for balance. When a cognitive task was added, however, only participants who received dual-task training (exercises for balance and thinking skills) with fixed-priority instructions and dual-task training with variable-priority instructions exhibited significant improvements in gait speed.

Performing Exercises For Balance And Cognitive Training Together Helped Improve Balance

The study concludes that elderly people who practice exercises for balance and thinking tasks together have better balance with walking and are less likely to fall. The Exercise For Balance DVD can assist in teaching you how to perform the right exercises for balance to help improve balance and reduce falls. One way you can progress the exercises for balance on the DVD is to add cognitive tasks like counting or reading. That will help to maximize your brain integration abilities, improve balance and mimick activities of daily living where we all think about other things while engaging our balance system. Get your Exercise For Balance DVD today by clicking on the BUY NOW button at the top right of the page or see

http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now

Get started on your exercises for balance today!!