[in the hills]

I do drinking bird exercises with weights.


Found it quite difficult at first but it's surprising how your balance improves over time. I do keep my eyes open though!

[Womble]

Is that the same as just drinking?  Asking for a friend.

[Fleecewife]

So when you're standing on one leg, do you lock your knee back or do you keep it flexed, and does it make a difference to how well you balance?
Also, does anyone have a leg preference for perfect performance in one-leg standing? My right leg sinks down an inch or two when I put my weight on it - probably I should get on the hip replacement list now (given it's several years waiting)

[in the hills]

When my son was younger he had an accident and needed an operation and then physio. The physiotherapist told us that you should never stand with your knees 'locked' and the knees should be 'soft' when you stand. She said that it was a bad habit to lock your knee joints.


I follow some exercise videos and it says to keep the knee of your standing leg 'soft' and not 'locked' when doing exercises needing you to stand on one leg. In fact, in all the exercises it says to never lock any of your joints eg. elbows because you want your muscles doing the work.


We need a physio or exercise instructor, FW!

[arobwk]

I do not actually understand the locked/unlocked knee thing !??  If I stand on one leg, one leg is upright and the other is crooked with foot touching the other leg just below the knee - either right or left "balancing leg".  I don't know if that counts as "locked" or not!!

[SallyintNorth]

If there is no bend in the standing leg, then that knee is locked.

In our "old crocks' yoga" class, we are told to always have a bend in the knees to protect the back.

[arobwk]

So far, I guess I'm locked then.  I'll try unlocked 2mor.

[Fleecewife]

As a child I always stood with my knees locked ie bent slightly backwards but as I get older increasingly I stand with my legs slightly flexed, unless I'm having a 'policeman's nap' when I have to lock my knees back or I'll fall over.  I assume horses lock their knees when they take a standing snooze too.
For standing on one leg I was keeping my knee bent - I just wondered if it was easier to lock the knee.


Next question.  If like arobwk when you stand on one leg you support the other leg against the standing one, is that easier than just waving it about or letting it dangle?  Also, are your hands hanging by your sides or outstretched horizontally?  Oh and anyone doing this with bare feet, or wearing shoes?  I'm barefoot.


There's a lot more to standing on one leg than I thought     

[Perris]

another good exercise for improving balance (worked wonders for me anyway) is to stand with feet hip-distance apart and do some small circles with your hips, first clockwise, then anti-clockwise. When you feel stable doing that with eyes open (after a few weeks, in my case), progress to doing it with eyes shut.

[SallyintNorth]

I assume horses lock their knees when they take a standing snooze too.

They do .  Horses don't need to lie down to sleep at all, although youngsters usually do.

Next question.  If like arobwk when you stand on one leg you support the other leg against the standing one, is that easier than just waving it about or letting it dangle?  Also, are your hands hanging by your sides or outstretched horizontally?  Oh and anyone doing this with bare feet, or wearing shoes?  I'm barefoot.

In yoga, our teacher takes us through these stages. 

1.  Stand firm with both feet together, toes and ankles touching, hands on hips.
2.  Shift weight to the standing leg.
3.  Point the other toe in front of you, with the leg straight out in front of you and the tip of the toe touching the ground.
4.  Find a point to look at that doesn't move, either on the floor a few feet in front of you or low down on the wall in front of you.
5.  Raise the pointing leg, keeping the toe pointed.  It doesn't have leave the ground by much, whatever feels comfortable.  Keep your eyes on the fixed point. 
6.  If you are struggling to maintain your balance and it helps, you can rest the toe of the lifted leg on top of the standing foot.  (I nearly always do this.)

We always make sure we can reach a support when we do this, so you can steady yourself if you need to. 

And for yoga, the recommendation is bare feet and standing on a non-slip mat.   A yoga mat is great, as you can really press your feet into it to make indentations, to give yourself a solid base.

We also do a similar exercise with hands pressed firmly together, fingers pointing upwards, held at the heart.   And if the balance is good today, we may then take the hands up above the head, keeping the palms and fingers pressed together and the fingers pointing up.

[in the hills]

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/balance-exercises/

The NHS have free exercise videos for you to watch and follow. I've used some of the aerobic and Pilates ones and some targeting legs etc They also do exercise videos for those with a variety of medical issues.

I've just had a quick look and found the above focusing on basic balance. Talks about having that slight bend in your standing leg.

[Fleecewife]

I assume horses lock their knees when they take a standing snooze too.

They do .  Horses don't need to lie down to sleep at all, although youngsters usually do.

Next question.  If like arobwk when you stand on one leg you support the other leg against the standing one, is that easier than just waving it about or letting it dangle?  Also, are your hands hanging by your sides or outstretched horizontally?  Oh and anyone doing this with bare feet, or wearing shoes?  I'm barefoot.

In yoga, our teacher takes us through these stages. 

1.  Stand firm with both feet together, toes and ankles touching, hands on hips.
2.  Shift weight to the standing leg.
3.  Point the other toe in front of you, with the leg straight out in front of you and the tip of the toe touching the ground.
4.  Find a point to look at that doesn't move, either on the floor a few feet in front of you or low down on the wall in front of you.
5.  Raise the pointing leg, keeping the toe pointed.  It doesn't have leave the ground by much, whatever feels comfortable.  Keep your eyes on the fixed point. 
6.  If you are struggling to maintain your balance and it helps, you can rest the toe of the lifted leg on top of the standing foot.  (I nearly always do this.)

We always make sure we can reach a support when we do this, so you can steady yourself if you need to. 

And for yoga, the recommendation is bare feet and standing on a non-slip mat.   A yoga mat is great, as you can really press your feet into it to make indentations, to give yourself a solid base.

We also do a similar exercise with hands pressed firmly together, fingers pointing upwards, held at the heart.   And if the balance is good today, we may then take the hands up above the head, keeping the palms and fingers pressed together and the fingers pointing up.

I've wondered about joining a yoga class.  I've assumed I'm too creaky with a worsening hip, but I just might look into that 

[Fleecewife]

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/balance-exercises/

The NHS have free exercise videos for you to watch and follow. I've used some of the aerobic and Pilates ones and some targeting legs etc They also do exercise videos for those with a variety of medical issues.

I've just had a quick look and found the above focusing on basic balance. Talks about having that slight bend in your standing leg.

Thanks for the link in the hills.  Those exercises look about my level 
I tend to do a series of fairly static exercises standing in front of my computer when I'm studying my online courses.  I'm a real twitcher, not in the bird watching sense, so reading long treatises sitting in one position was never going to work for me. So I stand and move while reading, just general limbering up type things.  Organised twitching really 

[SallyintNorth]

I've wondered about joining a yoga class.  I've assumed I'm too creaky with a worsening hip, but I just might look into that 

Find a class and teacher that's "old crock" friendly.  I can't stress enough how much help yoga has been to me - flexibility, muscle tone, core strength, balance, and also my emotional wellbeing.  I am so lucky that we have a wonderful teacher within the community.  Two of us old crocks do one class with her and she has another pair of younger / less-crockies before us.

There are lots of yoga teachers doing online sessions now, you may be able to find something suitable for your "age and stage" .  If not, shout - I could ask our teacher if she might do one.  I do know she has produced some CDs of some of the more basic and gentle movements, which would quite possibly be suitable.

[doganjo]

  I assume horses lock their knees when they take a standing snooze too.

  No they don't, they have three legs slightly flexed and one rear leg bent at the ankle joint.  They swap legs regularly while still napping  It's funny to watch them when you stay absolutely quiet