How long can you balance on one foot?

Theoldguy1

NorthCascades wrote: »

I must be too heavy, with a throw pillow on a folded towel I can get a stable enough platform to stand on one leg for minutes. Might have to go straight to the wobble board.

Look at Airex pads about $60 or knockoffs aroind $20 both on Amazon.

aokoye

NorthCascades wrote: »

Azdak wrote: »

Start with one-leg balancing. Then do it with arms outstretched in front of your.

Then try it with your eyes closed.

Going from a hard floor to a pillow can sometimes be a big jump. You can go in-between by using a folded towel.

But the general concept is sound and important for full long-term recovery.

It's much harder with eyes closed!

The doctor told me to progress up to 30 seconds (which felt "too" easy the first time) then add a pillow, then two, then a wobble board.

I asked if I could do single leg (Romanian? Russian?) deadlifts instead, the nurse made a face, the doctor said "I guess so." I'm not really clear on whether that will put too much stress on the tendon or not, but if the doctor didn't say no, I'm inclined to do these instead. They're helpful for cross country skiing. You come down hills in XC, you just have to go up them first; taking a corner coming down hill on one ski feels similar to a SLDL. I use one arm, opposite the leg I raise, other arm at my side.

I think a wobble board or a bosu (if you have access to one) would actually be significantly harder than the single leg deadlift unless it's a single leg deadlift on a bosu or wobble board. Are you seeing a physical therapist yet? I haven't really been keeping up on what's going on in terms of your recovery, but I think the progression that I mentioned above would potentially make more sense.

avalonblues

I never heard of this as a thing - I just balanced 2 min., 15 sec. on my weak side leg & could have gone longer (it's pretty boring). I tend though to agree with whoever said it above that once you can balance on one leg about 30 sec., going any longer doesn't prove a whole lot.

rainbow198

I have great balance and I work on it several times per week. I've never timed myself though. Making a mental note because I'm curious!

Concentrating on one spot in the room helps me to focus and based on my single leg deadlifts and using my bosu ball I know I can go longer on my right side compared to my left side.

kshama2001

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Pick up the foot how far? That makes a big difference for me. Up 1/2", standing still, I can do it on my best side for a fairly long time, probably 2-3 minutes (?), possibly longer (haven't timed it).

Context: A while back, I decided my balance needed work, and one of my ways of working on it was to stand on one foot while waiting in line (grocery store, theater, whatever). The 1/2"-up version can be done without looking too eccentric, so I do that a lot. If I don't care how eccentric I look, I pick it up further, swing the up foot back and forth or around in a circle; or switch my (quite heavy) purse from one side to another or swing it to create imbalance, etc. Any of those things - including just raising the foot 6"+ - reduces the duration significantly. Thirty seconds while moving the foot around would be pretty good.

I mean, I'm not doing anything else while waiting in line, right?

https://posturemovementpain.com/2014/01/30/how-long-should-i-be-able-to-balance-on-one-leg/

...Test Yourself

-Stand barefoot

-Cross the arms over the chest

-Focus on a spot on the wall in front of you at eye level for eyes open testing

-Raise one leg such that the raised foot is near but not touching the ankle of the stance limb

-Begin the timer when the foot leaves the ground

-Stop the timer when you either 1) uncross the arms 2) move the raised foot away from the standing limb or touch it to the ground 3) Move the weight bearing foot to maintain balance

-Repeat the test the same way with eyes closed, stop the timer if you open your eyes.

-Record the best of three trials

The Results

A strong relationship was found between advancing age and declining balance. Eyes open balance stays in the 40s range until age 50 then begins to drop by about 10 seconds for each decade after 60. Eyes closed balance is a third of the duration of eyes open balance and drops by about 4 seconds each decade after age 50. The average of 15 seconds with eyes closed for 18-39 an year old surprised me, it was much less than I had been taught.

Detailed results are below, see how you compare.

kshama2001

I wouldn't call me normal, as I have wide feet and lots of years of yoga, but here's my results from May:

kshama2001 wrote: »

lms_938 wrote: »

I’ve been on HRT for about nine years, under medical supervision and advice. I have had balance problems in that I feel a bit unsteady sometimes when I’m walking, which is my main exercise. (I do about three miles a day.) I haven’t sought advice about it and did not specifically think of it as tied to the menopause. However I’ve been doing balance exercises for quite a few months now and that seems to have sorted it out. I also do a balance test about once a month. I found this on a reputable website, although I can’t do the link at the moment, but you simply time how long you can stand on one leg with your eyes closed. The website gives a table showing the average expected time by age group. You might that useful / interesting. I hope this is helpful, although it might be wise to check with the doctor if you are concerned about it.

Here's a link with how to test yourself. It has ages and times for both eyes open and closed.

• Eyes open I came down at 3:30, more because I was bored and my leg hurt, than because I lost my balance.
• Eyes closed I first did on my other leg, which has a bad knee, and came down at 37 seconds. Rested a bit, and then did my good leg, for 53 seconds. According to the chart, for my age, it should have been 5-8 seconds. Thank you wide feet and decades of yoga, although I haven't regularly done balancing poses for years

https://posturemovementpain.com/2014/01/30/how-long-should-i-be-able-to-balance-on-one-leg/