Balance training doesn’t have to take a long time. Just minutes a day, added to your current exercise routine, can provide results in a short period of time. Improving lower body strength will help to improve your balance, and better balance means reduced risk of falls. Before you start your exercise program, read these safety tips for lower body exercise.

Hold onto a table or chair for balance when you used only one hand. As you progress, try holding on with only one fingertip. When you feel comfortable with one fingertip, try the following lower body exercises without holding on at all. Ask someone to watch you the first few times, in case you lose your balance. If you are very steady on your feet, move on to doing the exercises using no hands, with your eyes closed. Have someone stand close by if you are unsteady.

Know what good posture is. Most people think that to "stand up straight" means tensing your back to heave your chest 'in and up', and pulling your head back in to your chest. This is not so. The spine has two natural curves that you need to maintain called the 'double C' or 'S' curves, these are the curves found from the base of your head to your shoulders and the curve from the upper back to the base of the spine. When standing straight up, make sure that your weight is evenly distributed on your feet. You might feel like you are leaning forward, and look off-balance, but you are not.

Using a mirror, align your ears, shoulders, and hips. Proper alignment places your ears loosely above your shoulders, above your hips. Again, these points make a straight line, but the spine itself curves in a slight 'S.' You'll find that this doesn't hurt at all. If you do experience pain, look at your side view in a mirror to see if you're forcing your back into an unnatural position. If so, stop and correct.

Stand with weight mostly on the balls of the feet, not with weight on the heels. Avoid locking your knees. Keep feet slightly apart, about shoulder-width. Let arms hang naturally down the sides of the body. Direct your eyes forward to focus on a target (chin is parallel to the floor). Gently move your head straight back until your ears are over your shoulders. Stand straight and tall, with shoulders upright. Imagine that the top of the head is being pulled toward the ceiling by a string. Pull your abdominal muscles in and up so that your stomach flattens.

Notice that your weight is distributed evenly under both feet.