Every Workout Should Include Single-Leg Balancing Exercises

Audree (the author) holding a side kick for 20 seconds during kickboxing

I am a couple of years past Medicare eligibility (OK, you do the math: I was born in 1955) and am extremely fit. I am lucky because I've always loved exercising. As I've grown older, I've discovered that I need to work out more to maintain my current fitness level. As one who has exercised consistently for a half-century, I now ascribe to the following fitness principles:

• Do equal amounts of cardio, flexibility, and strength training each week.
• It is not necessary to aspire to all 60-minute workout durations. Gyms and studios schedule classes and trainers by the hour for ease of payment. 20-minute intervals are sufficient (30-, 40- or 50-minute intervals are fine if you have the time and the will).
• Consistent moderate exercise is the key.
• Always include warmup and cooldown segments for every activity, which is crucial to help reduce muscle soreness and the risk of injury.
• Do two out of the three modalities every day. What follows is a typical weekly schedule for me:

Sample Weekly Workout Schedule

• Choose one day for recovery where activities are lighter. In my case, this is Sunday.
• For cardio, include as much variety as possible and choose activities you enjoy. For me, cardio includes kickboxing, step aerobics, cardio dance, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT, which is 60 or 120 seconds of intensity followed by 30 seconds of rest), and Tabata (20 seconds of intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest). It's essential to have a mixture of steady-state cardio and interval training.
• Every workout should include exercises where you are balancing on one leg. Single-leg balance exercises can be part of a warmup, a cooldown, cardio, weight training, or flexibility.

Why is it Important to Balance on Each Leg?

Single leg balancing improves core strength and body alignment while reducing the risk of falling. It impacts the entire body by requiring strength and coordination involving ears, eyes, joints (hips, knees, ankles), feet, and many muscle groups, along with core strength. The article below describes how balance can offer critical insights into overall health and mortality.

Balancing one leg may be a helpful health test in later life, research suggests

Single-leg Balancing is a Learned Skill

Balance is one example where practice makes perfect. I started a yoga practice about fifteen years ago at the suggestion of my adult daughter, Bree. We joined a gym together and met up regularly for yoga classes. I was stiff (from years of a cardio-focused workout regiment), timid and wobbly. The delight I experienced rolling out my yoga mat next to my daughter overshadowed my ambivalence about spending an hour being clumsy doing an activity that I didn't enjoy. I always chose a spot next to a wall to use as a balance assist.

Slowly, I saw my balance and flexibility improve. Fast forward fifteen years, and I have excellent balance (both legs) and can even perform headstands and handstands. The key to success is patience and consistency. Over time, I grew to love yoga and consider it a crucial part of my healthy lifestyle.

My flexibility also improved in specific joints and muscle groups. However, my hamstrings remain super tight, which is unlikely to change. I use a yoga strap (as seen in the pictures below) to extend my reach and yoga blocks to move the floor closer to my hands.

If you are a beginner, I advise:

• Start your balance practice by holding onto a wall or chair
• Once you feel steadier, use only three fingers on the wall or chair
• Then graduate to two fingers, then one finger. And then start testing yourself by letting go of the wall or chair altogether.
• You will see improvement over time. Just be patient and delight in your incremental progress.

Incorporating Balance into Your Workout Regiment

Every workout should include balance activities/exercises performed using each leg for an equal duration. You might find one side has better balance than the other side. No worries because both sides will get better with practice.

Balance during warmup and cooldown

Audree is doing quad stretches during a cooldown segment

Balance during Strength Training

Audree performing single-leg weighted exercises

There are a lot of opportunities to incorporate balance into strength training, including:

• One-legged deadlifts (as shown above in the third picture)
• One-arm/one-leg overhead tricep extensions (seen above in the first picture). The same concept works with one-arm bicep curls, overhead presses, etc. Always use the left leg with the right arm and visa-versa.

Balance during Flexibility Training

Example yoga single-leg poses

In general, stretching and yoga are slower-paced activities making balance relatively easy to include. In the pictures above, Audree demonstrates:

• Warrier III or Arabesque (the first picture)
• Twisted forward-leg balance (the second picture)
• Side-leg balance (the third picture)

You can Add Balance Anywhere, Anytime

You can incorporate balance into your daily life by doing routine tasks on one leg, such as brushing your teeth or combing your hair. Just try to spend equal amounts of time on each leg.

Attributions and More

Fortunately, plenty of high-quality, freely-available content exists online, supporting daily workout schedules (including balance segments) for all fitness levels. One example is Chris from CDornerFitness, who offers daily classes on youtube with modifications for all fitness levels. Chris's classes add needed structure and variety to my workout regimen with a consistent emphasis on balance.

To learn more about me, my workout schedule, and my workout environment, check out this Medium article:

I am "Refocused, but not Retired." An official definition of retirement is: