What is it?Medical definition- A biological system that enables us to know where our bodies are in the environment and to maintain a desired position. Normal balance depends on information from the inner ear, other senses (such as sight and touch) and muscle movement.
*Simply put, balance is the foundation that will contribute to how well we can move our body.
It's like if you try to build a house on sand compared to building a house of rocks and stone, if a storm comes the house build on sand will more likely be blown away but the one on rocks and stones will have a higher chance of standing. It's the same with our bodies, if we have a firm foundation (our balance) we reduce our chance of injuries drastically.
How do I know if my balance is good or not?Try these quick and easy tests below at home to see how you compare to people your age!
*Make sure to do this next to something stable (kitchen bench, sturdy table) to hold on to if you lose your balance
1. Standing on 1 leg test
- Stand on 1 leg without holding onto anything.
- Normally you should be able to stand for 30s, if you are unable to you may need some work
2. Standing reach test
- Stand next to a wall, arm raised to shoulder height. Reach forward along the wall as far as you can without falling, and note the distance between the starting position, and finishing position.
- A standing reach of less than 15cm indicates a higher risk of falling.
3. Five-Sit to stand test
- Sit in a chair and stand and sit 5 times, each time standing up fully and sitting down with your bottom touching the chair.
- People without balance problems should be able to do this in 13 seconds or less
Have you passed the test?
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