Fitness Files: Maintaining balance is so important

Dawn, Jan. 25, Crystal Cove. Ready to hike, Laurie and I descended the stairs from the parking lot.

Stopped short. Gawked at the dramatic change in beach configuration. Gazed at a swath cut in the sand by the previous night’s high winds and stormy seas — creating a steep escarpment running almost to bluff’s edge.

Our “hike” turned into a wade across rivulets, or a scramble over granite and jagged volcanic rocks, formerly hidden under tons of sand, now fully exposed. The storm served up plastic bottles, bottle caps, bags, Styrofoam, so we repurposed kids’ sand buckets, found among the trash, into garbage holders, stuffing them with detritus as we walked.

When we came to rock barriers, Laurie jumped gracefully, boulder to boulder. I resorted to a crouch, wanting to use my hands to crawl but unable to because I was determined to clutch my trash collection, which by then overflowed into both hands.

Laurie’s effortless dancer’s leap contrasted with my concentrated feats of balance, which gave me a sense of achievement when I crossed the boulder field without breaking one bone!

Balance.

With it, I negotiated the rock pile mostly upright. Without it, I’d have slipped through the cracks, a heap in the sand below. The systems that let me traverse the uneven path are in the eyes, brain, inner ear, muscles, joints and sense of touch.

The complex cooperation of these systems goes unnoticed unless we lose one through an inner ear problem, stroke, vision loss or disease such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease.

With a balance problem, tasks formerly performed without thinking suddenly demand focused effort, leaving the person too exhausted to pay attention to other demands. Then, the debilitating specter of “the fall” emerges, resulting in a pesky broken wrist or an alarming broken hip.

The Vestibular Disorders Assn. says that 20% to 40% of adults over 65 who live at home fall, fracture a hip and die within a year.

Yet this isn’t just about older people. USnews.com/health in 2009, in “How to Prevent Falls by Improving Your Balance,” cites Dr. Vonda Wright. She is quoted as saying: “Did you know that after 25, your balance begins to decline?” But “a large analytical analysis of balance studies found that muscle strengthening and balance retaining programs can decrease risk of falls by 45%.”

The US News article suggests this test.

1. Stand near a firm surface

2. Hold your hands above the surface in case you need support.

3. Close your eyes and lift one foot off the ground.

4. Balance on the other foot.

5. Count out loud the number of seconds you are able to balance.

The shorter your balance time, the “older” your equilibrium is.

More than 22 seconds, the balance of a 22-year-old; 15 seconds, a 30-year-old; 7.2 seconds, a 50-year-old; fall right away, a 60-year-old.

If you are fit and strong, you can have better balance than much younger sedentary people.

I just performed the experiment. I’m 30 on my right foot and a wobbly 50 on my left. Let’s look at why I can stand one-footed at 72-years-old and how you could too.

1. I’ve remained active, walking on uneven surfaces like beach sand, grass, rocky trails.

2. I’ve stayed strong by lifting weights. Gardening, weed-pulling probably adds to my fitness.

3. About twice a week, I still do balance exercises, learned decades ago in physical therapy for knees. Not fancy. Example: Stand on each leg for one minute.

4. I’m close to ideal weight, so my joints and muscles don’t have abnormal stress.

5. I eat a Mediterranean diet. So far, I’m not coping with balance-robbing drugs, eyesight loss or diabetic neuropathy.

Diet and exercise are not guarantees of balance, but if you’re a gambler, you’d like the odds.

Laurie and I finished our Crystal Cove Hike and talked to a state parks ranger, who echoed our wonder at the sudden alteration of the landscape.

“In 12 years working here, I’ve never experienced overnight erosion like this,” she said. “The sand will return; it’s a natural process.”

Here’s hoping we all recognize our natural potential and maintain balance in mind and limb.

Newport Beach resident CARRIE LUGER SLAYBACK has, since turning 70, run the Los Angeles Marathon and the Carlsbad Marathon.