8 . Until we start to lose our balance, we barely notice that it’s there at all. “It starts for a lot of people with simple stuff,” says Dr Anna Lowe, an expert on healthy ageing and physical activity. “ 1 It’s easy to either miss the signs or just put it down to ageing — but it really is something you can affect.”
The key, it is increasingly becoming clear, is to address the decline before it gets serious: and that can happen earlier than you might think.
What is balance? Technically, it’s the complex interaction of several different systems in your body — from muscles, nerves, eyesight and the inner ear to the sensory system that lets you recognise where your body is touching the ground, along with movement receptors within your joints that tell you where your body is in space. 2
A lack of balance is, globally, associated with serious health problems. Earlier this year, the British Journal of Sports Medicine published the results of a decade-long study involving more than 1,700 middle-aged participants, which concluded that an inability to balance was associated with an almost twofold increase in risk of death.
“ 3 ” agrees Lowe, an associate professor researching strength and balance in midlife. “Older women are far less active than older men, and general activity, just moving around and doing stuff, affects balance a lot. Single-legged movements, such as walking lunges, are a great test of dynamic (动态的) balance, but even bilateral movements, like squats (深蹲), can provide a challenge.”
4 Resistance exercise, whether that means lifting weights or hiking with a backpack, comes with a host of other proven health benefits, from improved bone density to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. As Locker puts it: everyone’s told to save money for their retirement, and nobody’s taught to save their balance. But both are difficult to get back once they’re gone.
A.Early interventions are key, so you’ve got to stay active. |
B.Perhaps surprisingly, those who deal with it have struggled to settle on a single definition. |
C.It’s not something we’re born with, but also it’s not something we learn, but an ability that we gain early and lose over time. |
D.For some people. just try to build in an element of balance and muscle strengthening. |
E.Maybe you used to be able to quickly stand on one leg to put a shoe on, and you’ve stopped doing that at some point. |
F.Whatever activity you choose, the lesson is to work on your balance before you need to, not when it becomes an issue. |