Balance is one of those things most of us never think about until it starts to slip. A recent feature from NZ Herald Travel, drawing on reporting by The New York Times, looks at how to train it as you age — and the people it profiles make a persuasive case that decline isn't inevitable.
Take Adam Grosowsky, 67, of Eugene, Oregon, who helped invent slacklining in the late 1970s. He still swims the Row River and walks a slackline strung 15 feet above it, juggling and even throwing knives mid-balance. Then there's Judi Oyama, 66, from Aptos, California — the world's oldest competitive female skateboarder — who runs a mile in a weighted vest and practises slalom arm movements with a foam pad balanced on her head. And Angela Fuller, 46, once told she was too fragile to exercise after a back injury, who now competes in adult gymnastics and teaches Zumba and HIIT in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
The science behind their routines is straightforward. Balance isn't one skill but several systems working together: vision, the inner ear's vestibular system and proprioception — your sense of where your body is in space — plus the strength, flexibility and coordination that hold it all up. Laurie King, a neurology professor and co-director of the Balance Disorders Laboratory at Oregon Health & Science University, says the biggest misconception is that a few exercises are a magic bullet. Her advice: understand the systems, then choose activities that target them. The evidence that exercise improves balance is strong, and it's never too late to start.
The practical progression runs like this. First, build basic strength with push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, sit-to-stands and the bird dog for core stability. Then layer in static balance work — tree pose, standing heel-to-toe — before moving to dynamic drills: shifting direction, changing pace, walking along a strip of painter's tape or a two-by-four like a balance beam. Standing on a Bosu ball or foam pad challenges multiple systems at once; closing your eyes forces your vestibular system to work harder, effectively training the brain to use that input more efficiently.
Variety matters as much as effort. King warns that repeating the same routine stops helping, and that balance has a cognitive layer too — walking requires attention, decisions and constant small adjustments. Tai chi and racket sports score well on both counts, and dancing is a favourite recommendation: start by swaying side to side, then add turns, kicks and hops. Oyama does her dancing on a longboard.
Why does this matter to travellers? Because trips are essentially balance tests — cobbled streets, boat decks, hiking trails, wet pool tiles, uneven temple steps. The fitter your balance systems, the longer you can keep saying yes to those experiences, and the lower your risk of a fall that ends a holiday early. For anyone planning active travel into their 60s, 70s and beyond, a few minutes of daily balance work may be the best pre-trip training there is.
NZ Herald Travel