Your potential "Why" to your decrease balance:
- Increase Hip/Piriformis Muscle Tightness and IT Band Tightness: Which might be due to decrease Core Strength.
- Decrease Balance of "foot contacting the floor" (proproception) and "inner ear" (Vestibular) systems.
Home Exercise Program
WALKING PROGRAM CONSISTS OF 30-45 MIN WALK EVERY DAY. IF YOU DO 30 MIN ONLY, DO ANOTHER WALK IN THE AFTERNOON. ADD IN STAIRS AS YOU DESIRE.
Mini Squats x25 reps with activation of core muscles. Make sure knees don't come forward, keep them over your feet. Emphasize buttock coming back as if you were going to sit in a chair. x3/day
Keep hands near sink to grab if needed for safety. Hold without hands for as long as you can WITH HIPS LEVEL, so "balance" as long as you can. x3/day
***DO ONLY FOR LEFT LEG****
***RIGHT LEG USE 2 HANDS ON SINK TO UN-WEIGHT SELF MAKING IT AN EASIER EXERCISE***HOLD FOR 10-15 SEC, WITH LEVEL HIPS IF STARTS TO HURT, STOP.
Bring knee to opposite shoulder. No "pain pain", just a "nice discomfort". 1 min hold. Perform x5-10/day
******Changes/Updates********* Bring knee more to opposite shoulder than across body
Use Rolling Pin to roll over IT Band. Don't follow this picture exactly, roll more the side of the leg. Find the "hot spots"/tight spots and roll it out. Perform 5-10/day.
***********Changes/Updates************** Sit when performing, relax leg more when performing
Perform "crunch" only if you need to, but recruit core muscles first. Use hands to feel if they are on, if they are, breath and perform marching 5 reps each leg.
Perform 3/day to improve the skill of turning the core "on", "find the light switch" still, but now can start improving overall strength.
If the core is not on, they stop and reset.
**********Update: 8/15/17*********** Perform core with breathing as above, but can now perform "bicycle kicks" keeping both legs off the ground and extending one out at at time. Progress to extending both legs out together if "bicycle kicks" are easy and need to make harder. Be sure core is engaged and your back is not arching.
********Update 9/7/17************* Do basic core recruitment by itself. Add "crunch"/shoulders come up a little with core activation. x10 reps before performing harder core exercises of knees up, or "bicycle kicks", etc.
"Elbow on knee stretch", can come lower if you don't feel a stretch.
Hold for 1 min, no "pain pain", just a "nice discomfort"
5-10/day
Perform daily, a little lower then pictured to start and on your bed. Stretch for 2 min then roll it higher to the next segement, hold another 2 min. Perform on 5-7 segements.
Just hold for severl minutes to stretch our front chest area.