Designing Balance That Transfers to Real Life
In the last article, we explored how “balance” has many different meanings: equilibrioception (not falling over), dynamic balance (adapting to perturbations), and coordination with external objects (carrying loads, manual–postural tasks). The question now is: how do we design training that actually develops these different layers of balance?
One approach is to use complex tasks, activities that integrate multiple demands at once rather than isolating variables in controlled drills. In ecological dynamics, this is described as representative task design: creating practice tasks that capture the same information–movement relationships people rely on in real life (Davids et al., 2015; Pinder et al., 2011).
What makes a task representative?
A representative task is not simply about making something more difficult. The point is to preserve the perception–action relationships people will encounter outside the lab or gym. In football, for example, even a small-sided game requires scanning the field, adjusting stride patterns, coordinating with teammates, controlling the ball, and reacting to defenders. Each movement is guided by information in the environment: the positions of others, the ball’s speed, the space opening or closing.
By contrast, a reductionist drill might ask a player to dribble around cones in an empty field. This can be useful for isolating mechanics, but it lacks key informational cues such as opponents, teammates, or time pressure.
Why this matters for older adults
The same principles apply when we think about balance and fall prevention. A dual-task drill (for example, asking someone to stand on one leg while reciting the times tables) is attractive in research because it separates a motor task from a cognitive one, making the effects easier to measure. But in daily life, challenges rarely appear so neatly packaged.
Now consider a representative complex task - at Nature Moves, we play Dragon Egg Snatchers. Participants walk along balance beams or lines on the ground to collect beanbags (“eggs”) while avoiding others, carrying the eggs back to their team. To succeed, they must maintain equilibrioception, adapt their balance to the beam/line, react to the movements of others, and keep the game’s goal in mind. Cognitive, physical, and social demands are all embedded in the same task.
This creates something closer to real life. Balance problems rarely happen in empty rooms; they appear in crowded, reactive, multi-tasking situations like crossing a busy street or carrying shopping while talking to a friend.
What the evidence says
Enriched obstacle circuits: Walking programs that integrate uneven terrain, obstacle negotiation, and variable pathways improve gait adaptability and mobility in older adults (Brach et al., 2011). Multicomponent, task-oriented exercise, especially when it mimics everyday environmental challenges, reduces fall rates (Sherrington et al., 2019).
Reactive or perturbation training: Programs that expose participants to slips, trips, and sudden perturbations improve compensatory stepping and reduce fall incidence. Systematic reviews confirm strong effects on reactive balance control (Okubo et al., 2017; Mansfield et al., 2018). These interventions work because they recreate the perception–action couplings of real-world loss-of-balance events, not because they isolate a single variable.
Dance: Research shows dance can improve cognition and mobility in older adults (for example, Rehfeld et al., 2017), particularly through its combination of movement, rhythm, and social engagement. However, because many dance interventions focus on choreographed or patterned routines, they are typically less reactive and task-based than obstacle or game-based approaches. Dance is a valuable example of multi-domain training, but it is somewhat different from the representative, perception–action challenges emphasised here.
Designing with transfer in mind
Representative tasks give us a practical design principle: the closer your practice resembles the real-world context, the more likely the benefits will transfer. That does not mean every activity has to be a perfect simulation, but tasks should include the sensory cues, decision-making demands, and social interactions that shape movement outside the gym.
At WildStrong and Nature Moves, this is why we lean on games. Games are naturally representative: they are dynamic, social, and filled with meaning. They embed balance challenges inside playful goals, for example, carry the tray, protect the egg, and avoid the lava. These contexts draw out the same perception–action skills people need to move with confidence in daily life.
In the next article, we will look more closely at dual tasking. It has become one of the most widely studied ways of training balance and cognition in older adults, largely because it is easier to measure in controlled experiments. But the popularity of dual-tasking also reflects certain assumptions about how the brain and body work, assumptions that may not fully capture the richness of real-world movement.
References
Brach, J. S., VanSwearingen, J. M., Perera, S., & Wert, D. M. (2011). Motor learning versus standard walking exercise in older adults with subclinical gait dysfunction: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(6), 1001–1007.
Davids, K., Araújo, D., Vilar, L., Renshaw, I., & Pinder, R. (2015). An ecological dynamics perspective on skill acquisition: Implications for development of talent in sport. Talent Development & Excellence, 7(1), 21–34.
Mansfield, A., Wong, J. S., Bryce, J., Knorr, S., & Patterson, K. K. (2018). Does perturbation-based balance training prevent falls? Systematic review and meta-analysis of preliminary randomized controlled trials. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 4(1), e000372.
Okubo, Y., Schoene, D., & Lord, S. R. (2017). Step training improves reaction time, gait, and balance and reduces falls in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(7), 586–593.
Pinder, R. A., Davids, K., Renshaw, I., & Araújo, D. (2011). Representative learning design and functionality of research and practice in sport. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 33(1), 146–155.
Rehfeld, K., Müller, P., Aye, N., et al. (2017). Dancing or fitness sport? The effects on hippocampal plasticity and balance in older adults. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 305.
Sherrington, C., Fairhall, N., Kwok, W., et al. (2019). Evidence on physical activity and falls prevention for people aged 65+ years: Systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(14), 905–912.
