Balance Training: The Secret to Fall Prevention and Longevity | Shebah Carfagna & Nate Wilkins

Age-related decline in our ability to balance increases the risk of falls and loss of independence among older adults. But balance is a trainable skill. In this Move for Life episode fitness trainers Nate Wilkins and Shebah Carfagna discuss practical strategies such as daily single-leg stands, heel-to-toe walking, backward walking and integrating balance drills into routine tasks like brushing teeth. They focus on progressive challenges—such as standing on one leg with eyes closed—and the role of functional training tools like wobble boards to improve posture, reaction time and agility. The core message: consistent, simple practice can markedly improve stability, reduce frailty and extend healthy, independent years.

This is the latest in our 20-part series, Move for Life. You should consult your healthcare providers before starting or modifying a fitness routine.

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Transcript

Peter Bowes: 0:26

Balance. It's one of the first things we lose as we age, and one of the most important to maintain. Hello again. Welcome to the Live Long podcast and our Move for Life series with Nate Wilkins and Shebah Cafagna short episodes where we focus on the basics and how small moves can lead to lasting longevity.

Nate Wilkins: 1:04

Balance. That's something that we have to train for life. Some people train to go to the gym, but we have to train for life. And, you know, studies show that at about a at 40, when you when you when you reach 40, your balance starts to, to go away. And so we should practice balance every day. So it's not just standing on one foot per se, right? It is various things. So say as an example, you you could turn your head from side to side. And if your eyes lose the horizon, if you haven't been working on if you have poor balance, you'll you won't have the ability to stand. And that's really what we're talking about, is being able to avoid falls and standing still and being able to hold yourself in place.

Shebah Carfagna: 1:54

Balance increases your proprioception. It also increases your vestibular senses. And so you really need balance to get into that long term health span mindset. It is absolutely critical to have that balance because the opportunity for slips and falls is greater as you get older, and a leading cause of death in people over 65. Aside from that immediate heart attack, it slips and falls because once they slip and fall, they never seem to recover. And so it's it's not the issue that they may have or the disease condition they may have. It's a result of slip and fall and then they never recover from that. To deal with the issue that they originally had.

Peter Bowes: 2:35

And our ability to balance, to balance well does decline with age.

Shebah Carfagna: 2:41

Oh, absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt. But now, more and more, we're seeing younger people who also don't have that balance. So the younger generation, generation X, generation Z, and obviously since the pandemic, everyone is sitting and in front of their computers, their Macs, and they're not moving at all. So we see a decline in balance, even in younger individuals now, because they're not moving as much as they used to.

Nate Wilkins: 3:05

It's actually moving with power, being able to hold yourself in place and move like you feel that you're in control. You know, it's interesting because again, it goes back to the messaging, right? It goes into the brain. Whatever is happening in your body, if your balance is off, your the message that goes to your brain, you know, find yourself and get yourself studied. So that's what I think we want to allude to is that it's all tied in together. You got to have balance in your life, balancing your body. Just balance. Period. That's what we work for when we when we lift weights as well. Balance.

Shebah Carfagna: 3:43

Right. And if you have a joint replacement surgery of any kind, you really have to focus on your balance. Because most times the the priority is to correct the pain and the issue, but the limbs are never the same.

Peter Bowes: 3:58

So let's talk about the the techniques, what we can do to improve our balance. How should we approach it?

Shebah Carfagna: 4:05

Oh my goodness. Very aggressively. You know there are exercises you can do for balance. But also you should also think about where you are. And you have to determine if you're off balance. That's the first thing you have to come to terms with that. But things you can do is stand on one leg, and there's different variations of standing on one leg that you can do. You can do squats and have one leg. You can raise one leg up. You can lean to the side and do sagittal exercises that promote balance. You can raise a leg to the front to promote balance. All of those are good again for vestibular proprioception.

Nate Wilkins: 4:42

What about the one they called the sobriety test, where you put one foot in front of the other? That's true. And you walk heel to toe in a straight line. I like the one where you say you stand on one leg, but why not when you're brushing your teeth? Why don't you brush your teeth and and stand.

Shebah Carfagna: 4:58

Lift the.

Nate Wilkins: 4:59

Leg and lift the leg.

Shebah Carfagna: 5:00

Only you would think of something like that. We have clients that we have walk backwards. I practice walking backwards. And walking backwards is also a function of balance because we never do that. But that gives you greater agility. So balance leads to greater agility as well. And freedom of longevity where you don't need someone to take care of you. Because once you slip and fall.

Nate Wilkins: 5:21

Balance has to do with strength corps. That's true. You know, if you say, for example, if you're standing on a BOSU and a BOSU may be a good way to do it, or a wobble board if you're standing on those and if you are not able to to, you know, have strong legs on a bosu, a wobble board, if your shoulders are coming forward because their poor posture, you'll fall off. So it helps you to actually have that balance and have better posture. And I know that's this is not what we're talking about, but I think they all tie in together.

Shebah Carfagna: 5:55

I think they do. I think your core is part of the whole balance mechanism. So your core runs from your neck all the way down to your hips, where most of the organs are in your body. And so if you can manage that and then strengthen everything else around you, your extremities, you have a better chance of kind of making it through. Because we all know that walking leads to longevity. So you want to have that balance to walk. And if you don't, you really want to work to correct it. But I'm experiencing personally now is that one leg is longer than the other. The balance is off. I have chronic pain through my hip as a result of some other reasons, and so I am working with an orthotic to balance my body. However, I have worked on balance so much I can balance with the orthotic and without. And that's the real and that's the real message there. Managing the conditions. So you want to balance with whatever issue that you have. You don't want to make an excuse, say, oh my God, I can't balance because I have a knee replacement. You know, there's different balance exercises and different levels that you can proceed with.

Nate Wilkins: 6:59

I think the ultimate balance exercise is where you lift a leg up and you got to be you got to be comfortable with yourself, with somebody else, lift your leg up and then close your eyes and try to hold that for about 10 or 15 seconds. That that is the ultimate balance exercise in my mind, because you're trying to find your place in space. When you close your eyes, when your eyes lose the horizon, your body starts to to go from side to side and you're not comfortable. Even if you just put your foot down, you're still not comfortable. So that's the ultimate balance exercise in my mind.

Shebah Carfagna: 7:31

That's right. That's why we work on it with you.

Peter Bowes: 7:33

I just want to go back to what you said and you kind of joked about it, but standing on one leg as you're brushing your teeth. That goes to the fact that we can practice balance throughout our day. During other activities, you might be watching TV. Why not just stand up for a couple of minutes and stand on one leg? You don't have to be sitting on the sofa.

Nate Wilkins: 7:52

We like to suggest that you should practice again. Balance every day, maybe 3 or 4 times a day. Like you said, whenever you have an opportunity. Because again, well, let's go back to that that number, that study. When you get to be 40 or 40 and older, your balance starts to go further. And when you get to be 65, I mean, you know, it's at a place where you need to look at it and say, well, I need to do this as many times as possible to hold yourself up so you're not going to fall. Remember, we're talking about staying away from falls and hip injuries. Right.

Peter Bowes: 8:24

And stability is so crucial. And you've touched on this. And it's worth pointing out again that frailty is often the beginning of the end and just not being able to balance yourself. Maybe you might just trip slightly as you're walking to catch a bus. And if you've got that balance, if you can steady yourself, that can prevent an accident. That could be the beginning of the end.

Nate Wilkins: 8:46

Absolutely.

Shebah Carfagna: 8:47

And recommendations are if you're 45 and under that you balance for 45 seconds. If you're 50 to 59, you balance for 40s. And if you're 70 plus that, you can balance for 25 seconds on one leg. But I think what's really important here is that we share with your audience that it's not about thinking about balance. You know, it's something that you have to work in. And based on how you feel, not everyone responds to exercise workouts the same way. And so they don't think about it. They automatically throw it out of their mind. I think if you call it mobility, resisting frailty and maintaining independence, if you say to someone, this will maintain your independence. If you stand on one leg every day, as opposed to this is what they recommend for balance, they will do it because most individuals want to maintain their independence. I know all of my friends do.

Peter Bowes: 9:39

And another good point I think to make is that we really can improve, we can improve with practice. And a little anecdote from my life. I used to take part in obstacle course races that involved sometimes walking along a balance beam, a balance beam 2 or 3ft off the ground. And when I first started, I was terrible at it. Just just couldn't do it. Maybe we could get 2 or 3ft in and then had to jump off. And so I built a balance beam at home and literally practiced every single day, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. And it was it was remarkable to me how much I could improve on that. And so when I got to the competition, I could do the full length of the balance beam, which is something at the beginning, I didn't think I could do right.

Shebah Carfagna: 10:24

For an athlete like you, that is part of the training. So when when I'm in training, I do balance agility corps. It's an overall training opportunity. So if you work with a professional you want to be sure that they incorporate that. Not just lifting weights but functional. They call these functional activities. These fall under functional training, where you're working on all of those to increase your reflexes, your response, your cognition. So your mind responds quickly. Because when you go to fall, if your body is used to that constant movement and those muscles will fire. It's when you become rigid, you go to fall. You're rigid that you hit the ground. You're hurt. Your body doesn't think of it as American football. Those guys rumble and tumble and roll, maybe like your rugby. And they do that because they're used to that. Because that's how they train. They go through tires and all the exercises that that sport requires. So them rolling over and falling down. We watched WWE. We're going to digress. They are tremendous athletes. Like the sport or not. They roll, they tumble, they throw each other down. And if you don't believe that, they train balance, strength, core. You know, it's very hard to do that, to roll out of a ring and then stand up and jump back in. So balance core strength training is for everyone, even the average person.

Nate Wilkins: 11:50

It sharpens your coordination and your reaction time. I think in in a nutshell, it's what we're really saying that that if you can incorporate that, it'll help you with your longevity.

Peter Bowes: 12:04

So good balance keeps you grounded, literally and figuratively. It helps prevent falls, improves coordination, strengthens stabilizing muscles, and keeps your confidence high as you move through life with strength and control. The Live Long podcast is a Healthspan media production. I'm Peter Bowes, you can contact me through our website livelongpodcast.com where you'll also find show notes for this episode.

DISCLAIMER: 12:31

This podcast is for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only. We do not offer medical advice. If you have health concerns of any kind or you are considering adopting a new diet or exercise regime, you should first consult your doctor.