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TrainersEye · Balance, Strength & Healthy Ageing
Balance & Strength B
Trainer's Eye
Phase 1 · Steady and strong · Session B

Feet together.
Then one in front.
Steady all the way.

Narrowing the base of support is the simplest way to train balance — and the first strength work for the hips.

  • Bsession
  • P1Steady
  • 12:00on the clock
  • — donecompleted

Ankle and hip strategies

Small sways are corrected at the ankle, larger ones at the hip, and the biggest need a step. All three are trained here.

Challenge is the ingredient

Balance only improves when it is genuinely challenged. Exercises that feel perfectly safe produce very little change.

Sitting time counts

Total daily sitting is linked with poorer function independently of exercise. Standing up often is its own intervention.

Three couplets · two rounds · twelve minutes · steady on your feet

A

Narrow

Feet-together sways + semi-tandem hold
A1

Feet-together sways

60 s · slow reps

Feet touching; sway gently forward and back from the ankles, hands ready.

Easier feet apart  ·  Harder smaller, slower sways

R1R2—
A2

Semi-tandem hold

8 × 10 s · ×2

One foot half a step in front of the other, touching; hold ten seconds each way.

Easier feet side by side  ·  Harder full tandem

R1R2
B

Hips

Standing hip abduction + hip extension
B1

Standing hip abduction

60 s · slow reps

Hand on the counter; lift one leg out to the side with the toes forward, torso still.

Easier smaller lift  ·  Harder no hands

R1R2—
B2

Standing hip extension

12/side · ×2

Hand on the counter; squeeze the buttock and draw the straight leg back, no back arch.

Easier smaller range  ·  Harder 2-s hold

R1R2
C

Sit and rise

Sit-to-stand tempo + seated marching
C1

Sit-to-stand — slow

60 s · slow reps

Three seconds to sit down, one second to stand — the lowering is where strength is built.

Easier hands on the thighs  ·  Harder five seconds down

R1R2—
C2

Seated marching

20 steps · ×2

Sitting tall away from the backrest; lift each knee in turn without leaning back.

Easier hands on the seat  ·  Harder hold at the top

R1R2

The clock

Round 1settle in — 70%, perfect tracking
0:00A1 → A2
2:00B1 → B2
4:00C1 → C2
Round 2own it — beat Round 1 by quality
6:00A1 → A2
8:00B1 → B2
10:00C1 → C2

Each couplet: 60 s scored → the loading set → 10 s to move on. Done at 12:00.

How to run it

  1. Always have something solid within arm's reach — a kitchen counter, a sturdy chair, a wall. Not a wheeled chair or a table on castors.
  2. Pain rule: up to 4/10 during, back to your normal by the next morning, no worse week to week. Aching muscles the next day are fine.
  3. Feeling dizzy or light-headed on standing up: sit back down, and mention it to your doctor — it may be your medication.
  4. Balance training only works if it feels slightly unsteady. Perfectly safe is perfectly useless.

Tick it off

MovementRound 1Round 2Best
A1Feet-together swaysslow reps in 60 s —
A2Semi-tandem hold8 × 10 s
B1Standing hip abductionslow reps in 60 s —
B2Standing hip extension12/side
C1Sit-to-stand — slowslow reps in 60 s —
C2Seated marching20 steps
Session time
StreakDay —
Client / Patient
Coach / Clinician signature
Date
TE-12-BALANCE-B