February 23, 2024 • 13 mins
I'll never forget the day I watched helplessly as my wife's grandmother's world changed in an instant, all due to a simple loss of balance.
Did you know that our sense of balance is a key to our longevity?
Today, we unravel the complex web of factors affecting balance, from medication side effects to the nuanced roles of the vestibular system and vision. Discover the bridge between balance, longevity, and proprioception and learn why Americans might not be as steady on their feet as we'd hope. With practical tips and at-home balance tests, this episode is an essential listen for anyone keen on keeping their equilibrium as they age.
As you lace up your sneakers and prepare for your next workout, consider this: balance is an athletic skill that often goes unnoticed until it's at risk. We spotlight easy-to-integrate balance exercises that can transform your fitness routine and safeguard your independence in later years. By modifying simple movements like lunges, we can significantly diminish the likelihood of falls and enhance athletic performance. Join me on this journey into the world of balance and proprioception, where the benefits go far beyond staying on your feet – they're about mastering the art of moving through life with grace and strength.
Find episode links, notes and artwork at:
https://blog.dirobi.com
This show is for informational purposes only.
None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dave Sherwin (00:12):
Welcome to the DiRobi Health Show.
Today we're talking aboutbalance and I'm going to start
with two stories.
First of all, on my wife's sideof the family, a few years ago
she had an elderly member of thefamily we affectionately called
her Grammy and she was one ofthese people in her 80s that was
the life of the party.
She lived in kind of one ofthese upscale elderly retirement
(00:33):
homes with all kinds ofentertainment and good food and
she seemed quite happy.
She was the life of the party.
She was playing games, she wasgoing to all the activities, she
was going out to plays.
We enjoyed visiting her andspending time with her.
But one day she fell.
She fell down a small flight ofstairs.
It was actually a large flightof stairs but she was towards
(00:54):
the bottom and unfortunatelybroke her hip.
I was fairly young at the time,I think in my 30s anyway.
We went to visit her and I wasreally surprised how despondent
she was.
It was quite sad and it took somuch out of her.
This is kind of my firstintroduction to how severe it
(01:14):
can be when an elderly personfalls and she died within six
weeks.
She never came out of the rehabcenter after her surgery and it
was quite shocking because shewas so healthy until she fell
down.
Story number two I was at aCrossFit gym.
I started CrossFit, did it fora few years in my 40s, very much
(01:36):
enjoyed CrossFit, had somegreat instructors, went through
about three gyms over severalyears and had a good experience
with it.
At one point we were warming upand they had us take a small
ball I think it was a lacrosseball actually.
It said, okay, now stand onyour left foot, hold the ball
above your head and your righthand and just reach down to the
ground, lean forward.
(01:56):
So imagine kind of a storkposition.
Right, your left leg isstraight, you have a ball over
your head.
You just go down to the ground,let go of the ball, lift your
other arm, go back down to theground and pick up the ball with
your other hand, back and forth.
I thought, oh, I'm going tokill this.
I was that kid who always hadgood balance.
I was a boy scout who when wegot to the river that had a log
(02:18):
over it.
I was excited to just walkacross because I had confidence
in my balance and felt like Icould show off and get to the
other side and if other boyswere scared, I was going to be
the show off who would do it.
And that was kind of me at thattime and I took that sense of
balance for granted.
But that day in my 40s, as Ibent over, I lost my balance and
(02:41):
I was like what the?
I was kind of disappointed inmyself.
I tried it on my other leg andI was shocked to discover that
this sense of balance that I'dtaken for granted for so long
had not been used in some time.
And it was slipping.
And other people around me somewere struggling, some were
doing it very well, so they'dbecome the show off kids who
(03:03):
could do the thing, and I wasthe one who was now watching on
and going oh my gosh, otherpeople have a better sense of
balance than I do.
When did that happen?
Why did that happen?
And we we come to find out thatkeeping your balance is actually
a strong marker of longevity.
You're less likely to fall asyou get older, and having a
(03:28):
strong sense of balance issomething that we need to start
paying attention to, especiallyafter we turn the age of 40.
So that's what I want to talkabout today.
Balance issues are common amongother adults.
There's various factors thatcontribute, including the side
effects of medications, innerear problems and conditions like
diabetes or heart disease.
These all can diminish yourbalance.
(03:50):
Obviously, general agingaffects our pro pro preoception
man I struggle with the bigwords, I'm sorry about that
Proprioception, the sense ofbody position where we are in
space, which is crucial formaintaining balance.
Our reflexes slow down.
Our vestibular system, ourinner ear balance system
(04:11):
degenerates.
And also vision.
If our vision gets impaired,that also takes away from our
balance.
As a matter of fact, if youstand on one leg and close your
eyes, you'll discover veryquickly how important balance,
or how important eyesight, is toyour balance.
Alarmingly, approximately 20%of adults over the age of 15 in
the United States cannot standon one foot for more than 10
(04:34):
seconds.
This is a terrific test for youto do right now, no matter how
old you are.
Try to stand on one leg.
If you haven't done this in awhile, you may be shocked.
You may not have the naturalbalance that you had as a
younger person.
Try it on each leg and then tryit, like I said a minute ago,
closing your eyes.
(04:55):
What we find out, dear listener, is that we should start
working on our balance as we getolder.
This will help us live longer,it will reduce our risk of
falling and we will generallykeep our athleticism better.
We'll be able to perform betterin any sports that demand
balance, such as golf.
(05:18):
I'm going to talk about some ofthese things.
First of all, exercise andphysical activity.
One of the things that I havechanged in my exercise, now that
I understand this issue ofbalance, is I have changed up
some of my exercises to do themon one leg, or exercises that
are often done with your legsparallel to each other.
(05:38):
I will do them a different way.
Let me give you a quick example.
Just this morning, my workoutcalled for doing lunges with
dumbbells, one in each hand.
I don't do them that wayanymore because of this balance
issue.
Now, a lunge already requiressome balance, so that's terrific
.
But let me tell you somethingeven better.
What you do?
(05:59):
You take a kettlebell or adumbbell and you put it in the
hand that's opposite to the leg.
That's working.
You go down and what you'regoing to find is that your
stabilizer muscles have to workwhen you do a lunge that way.
Then you come up, switch theweight to the other hand, and do
your lunges that way, so thatwhile you're doing your lunges,
(06:20):
you're also working on yourbalance.
There's a variety of otherexercises that you can do
specifically for your balance.
There's actually so many that Iwon't even go through very many
.
Just a handful here.
But if you're really interestedin the subject, I do recommend
that you add weight balancingworkouts or exercises into your
(06:44):
natural routine.
The simplest of these are justcalled weight shifts, where you
simply shift your weight justlike it sounds like from one
foot to the other.
This is something you can dowhile waiting in line, while
you're eating.
If you just want to stand upfor a minute while you eat and
go back and forth.
Whatever watching television,you can stand and shift your
weight back and forth, and itactually makes a difference,
(07:06):
even lifting the other foot offthe ground and holding the
position.
The second one is very much likeit.
It's single leg balance, theonly difference being that you
would focus on developing outthe strength in each leg to
stand on one leg for as long asyou can.
The next is bicep curls andother exercises on one leg.
Imagine you can probablypicture this right now having a
(07:28):
dumbbell in each hand and doingbicep curls while standing on
one leg and then switching backand forth, similar to what I
mentioned with the lunges.
This is now adding balance intoan otherwise fairly normal
activity, but you're getting atwofer.
You're now doing the activityin a way that's improving your
balance.
(07:49):
Don't forget the calves.
Cavs are critical to balance,whether we do machine sitting
calf raises or standing calfraises, doing simple heel raises
.
Back to the balance thing.
Sometimes when I work out athome, I will take a 50 pound
kettlebell, hold it on one sideand do a calf raise just on the
(08:11):
garage stairs on the oppositeside leg.
Again, it's working all thosestabilizer muscles in between
from left to right.
So working on the calf musclesis crucial to keeping ankle
stability and overall balance.
Top to bottom, calves arecritical to our stability.
(08:33):
Then activities such as tai chior other flowing moving,
whether martial arts, yogathere's a variety of activities
we can participate in thatdemand and increase in balance.
Okay, next let's talk aboutnutrition and supplements.
There are two that are morecritical than others to balance,
(08:56):
as far as we know.
One is vitamin D, whichactually has a direct effect on
balance.
There's a lot of argument aboutvitamin D, something that we
don't have to take it at allbecause it's in so many products
.
Some people think you need like10,000 international units a
day.
I strongly disagree with thatas a certified nutrition coach,
(09:17):
because vitamin D is one ofthose that your body doesn't
just pee out.
If it has too much, it buildsup and becomes toxic.
We put 2,000 internationalunits in our Mimi's Miracle
Multi and every year when I getmy blood work done, my vitamin D
is perfect, and I think that2,000 is a great number for
almost everybody, and mypersonal blood work proves that
(09:37):
out.
Why don't you give that a shotyourself?
And, of course, mimi's MiracleMulti has several other elements
that are specifically designedfor people as they age, to be a
superior multi than those bigbox white capsules that really
don't do much.
The next one that's fairly bigis omega-3 fatty acids, because
(09:57):
there is evidence that improvesvestibular function, so it
directly helps your balance.
For me, I don't like the deepsea fish, the deep.
What am I trying to say here?
Deep sea fish, deep fish, see,deep sea fish.
Yeah, that's right, that'sright.
I don't like those.
Ancestrally, our ancientancestors were not able to
(10:23):
access fish that lived a miledeep in the sea.
They lived off of what theycould find on the land, or small
fish that they could catch instreams, rivers and shores, and
so this one is plant-based,which your body knows what to do
with plants, so check outPerfectOmega's at dirobycom, and
those are probably the two thatwould help you most directly
(10:44):
with balance.
Next, let's talk about lifestylemodifications.
Some of the things that aredirectly working against your
balance are alcohol medicationsand we mentioned this one before
your vision and so payingattention to those things,
reducing alcohol and, ifpossible, taking as few
(11:06):
medications as you need.
I'm not giving medical advicehere.
This is something that you canwork with your health
professional to do, but in thismodern day we're kind of
hopefully getting past the pointwhere multiple doctors
prescribe multiple things anddon't work with their clients to
try to keep the medicationsdown, and more and more
(11:28):
practitioners are aware of thelong-term harm caused by chronic
drug use, and so ideally, byimproving your lifestyle and
working with a professional, youcan make sure you're taking the
minimal effective dose of themedications that you actually
need.
So I hope this episode has beeninteresting, because if you are
(11:51):
over about the age of 40,there's a very good chance that
your balance is deterioratingand you may not be paying
attention, as I was not, anddiscovered in a CrossFit class
several years ago.
Since then I've changed myactivities, I've become aware of
balance and have worked on it,and I do not have that sense of
balance that I had as a teen,but it's certainly better than a
(12:14):
lot of people my age.
I notice a lot of people do nothave balance.
I see people stumbling,struggling to get in and out of
cars and just a variety ofday-to-day things.
As you get older start tobecome a little harder if you
don't have a good sense ofbalance, and this is one of the
top things we can do to increaseour longevity.
So I hope you've enjoyed thisepisode.
(12:35):
Remember we put show notes andgraphics and fun stuff on our
blog at blogdiorobicom.
Also, remember that you can usethe code podcast to save 10% on
any of these supplements evermentioned on this show.
Until next time, this is DaveSherwin, wishing you health and
success.
Welcome to the DiRobi Health Show.
Today we're talking aboutbalance and I'm going to start
with two stories.
First of all, on my wife's sideof the family, a few years ago
she had an elderly member of thefamily we affectionately called
her Grammy and she was one ofthese people in her 80s that was
the life of the party.
She lived in kind of one ofthese upscale elderly retirement
(00:33):
homes with all kinds ofentertainment and good food and
she seemed quite happy.
She was the life of the party.
She was playing games, she wasgoing to all the activities, she
was going out to plays.
We enjoyed visiting her andspending time with her.
But one day she fell.
She fell down a small flight ofstairs.
It was actually a large flightof stairs but she was towards
(00:54):
the bottom and unfortunatelybroke her hip.
I was fairly young at the time,I think in my 30s anyway.
We went to visit her and I wasreally surprised how despondent
she was.
It was quite sad and it took somuch out of her.
This is kind of my firstintroduction to how severe it
(01:14):
can be when an elderly personfalls and she died within six
weeks.
She never came out of the rehabcenter after her surgery and it
was quite shocking because shewas so healthy until she fell
down.
Story number two I was at aCrossFit gym.
I started CrossFit, did it fora few years in my 40s, very much
(01:36):
enjoyed CrossFit, had somegreat instructors, went through
about three gyms over severalyears and had a good experience
with it.
At one point we were warming upand they had us take a small
ball I think it was a lacrosseball actually.
It said, okay, now stand onyour left foot, hold the ball
above your head and your righthand and just reach down to the
ground, lean forward.
(01:56):
So imagine kind of a storkposition.
Right, your left leg isstraight, you have a ball over
your head.
You just go down to the ground,let go of the ball, lift your
other arm, go back down to theground and pick up the ball with
your other hand, back and forth.
I thought, oh, I'm going tokill this.
I was that kid who always hadgood balance.
I was a boy scout who when wegot to the river that had a log
(02:18):
over it.
I was excited to just walkacross because I had confidence
in my balance and felt like Icould show off and get to the
other side and if other boyswere scared, I was going to be
the show off who would do it.
And that was kind of me at thattime and I took that sense of
balance for granted.
But that day in my 40s, as Ibent over, I lost my balance and
(02:41):
I was like what the?
I was kind of disappointed inmyself.
I tried it on my other leg andI was shocked to discover that
this sense of balance that I'dtaken for granted for so long
had not been used in some time.
And it was slipping.
And other people around me somewere struggling, some were
doing it very well, so they'dbecome the show off kids who
(03:03):
could do the thing, and I wasthe one who was now watching on
and going oh my gosh, otherpeople have a better sense of
balance than I do.
When did that happen?
Why did that happen?
And we we come to find out thatkeeping your balance is actually
a strong marker of longevity.
You're less likely to fall asyou get older, and having a
(03:28):
strong sense of balance issomething that we need to start
paying attention to, especiallyafter we turn the age of 40.
So that's what I want to talkabout today.
Balance issues are common amongother adults.
There's various factors thatcontribute, including the side
effects of medications, innerear problems and conditions like
diabetes or heart disease.
These all can diminish yourbalance.
(03:50):
Obviously, general agingaffects our pro pro preoception
man I struggle with the bigwords, I'm sorry about that
Proprioception, the sense ofbody position where we are in
space, which is crucial formaintaining balance.
Our reflexes slow down.
Our vestibular system, ourinner ear balance system
(04:11):
degenerates.
And also vision.
If our vision gets impaired,that also takes away from our
balance.
As a matter of fact, if youstand on one leg and close your
eyes, you'll discover veryquickly how important balance,
or how important eyesight, is toyour balance.
Alarmingly, approximately 20%of adults over the age of 15 in
the United States cannot standon one foot for more than 10
(04:34):
seconds.
This is a terrific test for youto do right now, no matter how
old you are.
Try to stand on one leg.
If you haven't done this in awhile, you may be shocked.
You may not have the naturalbalance that you had as a
younger person.
Try it on each leg and then tryit, like I said a minute ago,
closing your eyes.
(04:55):
What we find out, dear listener, is that we should start
working on our balance as we getolder.
This will help us live longer,it will reduce our risk of
falling and we will generallykeep our athleticism better.
We'll be able to perform betterin any sports that demand
balance, such as golf.
(05:18):
I'm going to talk about some ofthese things.
First of all, exercise andphysical activity.
One of the things that I havechanged in my exercise, now that
I understand this issue ofbalance, is I have changed up
some of my exercises to do themon one leg, or exercises that
are often done with your legsparallel to each other.
(05:38):
I will do them a different way.
Let me give you a quick example.
Just this morning, my workoutcalled for doing lunges with
dumbbells, one in each hand.
I don't do them that wayanymore because of this balance
issue.
Now, a lunge already requiressome balance, so that's terrific
.
But let me tell you somethingeven better.
What you do?
(05:59):
You take a kettlebell or adumbbell and you put it in the
hand that's opposite to the leg.
That's working.
You go down and what you'regoing to find is that your
stabilizer muscles have to workwhen you do a lunge that way.
Then you come up, switch theweight to the other hand, and do
your lunges that way, so thatwhile you're doing your lunges,
(06:20):
you're also working on yourbalance.
There's a variety of otherexercises that you can do
specifically for your balance.
There's actually so many that Iwon't even go through very many
.
Just a handful here.
But if you're really interestedin the subject, I do recommend
that you add weight balancingworkouts or exercises into your
(06:44):
natural routine.
The simplest of these are justcalled weight shifts, where you
simply shift your weight justlike it sounds like from one
foot to the other.
This is something you can dowhile waiting in line, while
you're eating.
If you just want to stand upfor a minute while you eat and
go back and forth.
Whatever watching television,you can stand and shift your
weight back and forth, and itactually makes a difference,
(07:06):
even lifting the other foot offthe ground and holding the
position.
The second one is very much likeit.
It's single leg balance, theonly difference being that you
would focus on developing outthe strength in each leg to
stand on one leg for as long asyou can.
The next is bicep curls andother exercises on one leg.
Imagine you can probablypicture this right now having a
(07:28):
dumbbell in each hand and doingbicep curls while standing on
one leg and then switching backand forth, similar to what I
mentioned with the lunges.
This is now adding balance intoan otherwise fairly normal
activity, but you're getting atwofer.
You're now doing the activityin a way that's improving your
balance.
(07:49):
Don't forget the calves.
Cavs are critical to balance,whether we do machine sitting
calf raises or standing calfraises, doing simple heel raises
.
Back to the balance thing.
Sometimes when I work out athome, I will take a 50 pound
kettlebell, hold it on one sideand do a calf raise just on the
(08:11):
garage stairs on the oppositeside leg.
Again, it's working all thosestabilizer muscles in between
from left to right.
So working on the calf musclesis crucial to keeping ankle
stability and overall balance.
Top to bottom, calves arecritical to our stability.
(08:33):
Then activities such as tai chior other flowing moving,
whether martial arts, yogathere's a variety of activities
we can participate in thatdemand and increase in balance.
Okay, next let's talk aboutnutrition and supplements.
There are two that are morecritical than others to balance,
(08:56):
as far as we know.
One is vitamin D, whichactually has a direct effect on
balance.
There's a lot of argument aboutvitamin D, something that we
don't have to take it at allbecause it's in so many products
.
Some people think you need like10,000 international units a
day.
I strongly disagree with thatas a certified nutrition coach,
(09:17):
because vitamin D is one ofthose that your body doesn't
just pee out.
If it has too much, it buildsup and becomes toxic.
We put 2,000 internationalunits in our Mimi's Miracle
Multi and every year when I getmy blood work done, my vitamin D
is perfect, and I think that2,000 is a great number for
almost everybody, and mypersonal blood work proves that
(09:37):
out.
Why don't you give that a shotyourself?
And, of course, mimi's MiracleMulti has several other elements
that are specifically designedfor people as they age, to be a
superior multi than those bigbox white capsules that really
don't do much.
The next one that's fairly bigis omega-3 fatty acids, because
(09:57):
there is evidence that improvesvestibular function, so it
directly helps your balance.
For me, I don't like the deepsea fish, the deep.
What am I trying to say here?
Deep sea fish, deep fish, see,deep sea fish.
Yeah, that's right, that'sright.
I don't like those.
Ancestrally, our ancientancestors were not able to
(10:23):
access fish that lived a miledeep in the sea.
They lived off of what theycould find on the land, or small
fish that they could catch instreams, rivers and shores, and
so this one is plant-based,which your body knows what to do
with plants, so check outPerfectOmega's at dirobycom, and
those are probably the two thatwould help you most directly
(10:44):
with balance.
Next, let's talk about lifestylemodifications.
Some of the things that aredirectly working against your
balance are alcohol medicationsand we mentioned this one before
your vision and so payingattention to those things,
reducing alcohol and, ifpossible, taking as few
(11:06):
medications as you need.
I'm not giving medical advicehere.
This is something that you canwork with your health
professional to do, but in thismodern day we're kind of
hopefully getting past the pointwhere multiple doctors
prescribe multiple things anddon't work with their clients to
try to keep the medicationsdown, and more and more
(11:28):
practitioners are aware of thelong-term harm caused by chronic
drug use, and so ideally, byimproving your lifestyle and
working with a professional, youcan make sure you're taking the
minimal effective dose of themedications that you actually
need.
So I hope this episode has beeninteresting, because if you are
(11:51):
over about the age of 40,there's a very good chance that
your balance is deterioratingand you may not be paying
attention, as I was not, anddiscovered in a CrossFit class
several years ago.
Since then I've changed myactivities, I've become aware of
balance and have worked on it,and I do not have that sense of
balance that I had as a teen,but it's certainly better than a
(12:14):
lot of people my age.
I notice a lot of people do nothave balance.
I see people stumbling,struggling to get in and out of
cars and just a variety ofday-to-day things.
As you get older start tobecome a little harder if you
don't have a good sense ofbalance, and this is one of the
top things we can do to increaseour longevity.
So I hope you've enjoyed thisepisode.
(12:35):
Remember we put show notes andgraphics and fun stuff on our
blog at blogdiorobicom.
Also, remember that you can usethe code podcast to save 10% on
any of these supplements evermentioned on this show.
Until next time, this is DaveSherwin, wishing you health and
success.
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