Balance activities in sitting

If sitting upright without leaning back is a challenge for you then you might like to try the activities suggested here.

Sitting balance

These series of exercises will progressively challenge your sitting balance.  Follow the series of exercises here until you reach the point that is challenging for you.  Practice the challenging exercise and then move on to the next once you have mastered it.

• Sat in a firm dining room chair or wheelchair with your feet firmly on the floor, sit forward and as upright as possible so your back isn’t resting on the back of the chair. Hold this position for as long as you can, and build up until you stay in this position for at least 3-4 minutes
• Sat in a firm dining room chair or wheelchair with your feet firmly on the floor, sit forward and as upright as possible so your back isn’t resting on the back of the chair. Hold this position and raise your arms for a count of 10 – without leaning back on the chair. Repeat this in small sets until you can do 5 – 10 sets.
• Sat in a firm dining room chair or wheelchair with your feet firmly on the floor, sit forward and as upright as possible so your back isn’t resting on the back of the chair. Hold this position and raise one leg off the floor – either by lifting your knee or straightening it out in front of you for a count of 10 – 20 – without leaning back on the chair. Repeat this in small sets until you are able to do 5-10 sets.
• Sat in a firm dining room chair or wheelchair with your feet firmly on the floor, sit forward and as upright as possible so your back isn’t resting on the back of the chair. Hold this position and reach forward.  Playing a game which involves throwing – throwing and catching a ball, playing some form of target game with beanbags or doing the balloon batting activity detailed below might make doing this a bit more interesting.
• Now change the surface you are sitting on. Sit on a squishy sofa or bed and repeat exercises 1-4 until you find them easy to do.

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If you are getting on well with these exercises, you might want to look at the core stability section and choose some routines to try from there.  Core stability activities done regularly can help you to maintain or improve your balance.

Balloon batting

Balloon batting is an excellent activity to do from a chair or wheelchair. Blow up a standard balloon.  Tap the balloon between you and another person.  As you reach up, forward and to the side it will not only get your heart beating faster, but it will challenge your sitting balance and make your core muscles work to stabilise you.

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