Summit Chiropractic and Physical Therapy
Summit Moves

Steady on Your Feet.
Stronger Every Week.

Balance and leg strength aren't fixed. They respond to training at any age — and a few minutes most days is enough to change them.

Start anywhere
Designed by your care team Most falls trace back to something treatable — hip and knee arthritis, back pain, weakness after surgery, numbness in the feet, or dizziness. These programs are built around those conditions and the everyday movements they make harder.
Provided by
Summit Chiropractic & Physical Therapy
Waterloo & Jesup, Iowa
The 2-Minute Check
Summit Moves · 3 questions + 1 test

Where Do You Stand?

This is the same short screen we use in the clinic. It won't diagnose anything — it tells you whether a conversation is worth having.

Step 1 of 2

Three Questions

Answer honestly — this only works if it's accurate.

Have you fallen in the past year?
Do you feel unsteady when you're standing or walking?
Do you worry about falling, or avoid things because of it?
Step 2 of 2

The 30-Second Chair Test

Set up: Use a sturdy chair with the back against a wall. Sit in the middle, feet flat, arms crossed over your chest.

The test: Set a timer for 30 seconds. Stand all the way up and sit all the way down as many times as you can. Count each time you stand.

If you need your hands to push off, that's useful information — do it that way and note it below. Stop early if you feel dizzy or short of breath.

0
times you stood up in 30 seconds
Did you need to use your hands?

This check is a starting point, not a diagnosis. Scores vary with arthritis, medication, recent illness, and how the day is going. If anything here surprised you, bring it to us or to your doctor.

A Score Is Only Useful If Someone Acts on It

We can find out why the number is what it is — strength, joint pain, nerve changes, inner-ear dizziness, medication side effects — and build a plan around it. You don't need a referral to start physical therapy in Iowa.

📞 Schedule a Visit
Waterloo: (319) 232-2100 · Jesup: (319) 827-2223
Summit Chiropractic & Physical Therapy
Waterloo & Jesup, Iowa · summitchiroandpt.com
Daily Balance & Strength
Summit Moves · 12 exercises · ~20 min · 4–5×/week

Build It Back, One Level at a Time

Every exercise has three levels. Start where you're solid, not where you wish you were — then move up when the level feels easy.

Before you start

Set Yourself Up to Succeed

Four things, every time

Stop and call us if You feel dizzy or lightheaded, get short of breath doing something that used to be easy, or notice new numbness or weakness in a leg. For chest pain or a fall where you hit your head, call 911 first.
Part 1 · Strength · 8 min
The engine

Legs That Catch You

Most falls aren't a balance failure — they're a strength failure. Your legs got a fraction of a second to react and didn't have enough left. This is the part that fixes that.

Sit toward the front of a sturdy chair with your feet flat and slightly behind your knees. Lean your chest forward over your toes, then push through your heels to stand all the way up. Lower yourself back down with control instead of dropping. Repeat 10 times.

Find your level 1. Push off your thighs or the armrests. 2. Arms crossed over your chest. 3. Arms crossed, and take three full seconds to lower down.
Why it matters This is the single most useful exercise on this page. It's the exact movement you make getting out of a chair, a car, the bath, and bed — and it's usually the first one to get hard. Strengthening it protects your independence more directly than anything else here.

Stand facing a countertop with your hands resting on it and your feet hip-width apart. Rise up onto the balls of your feet as high as you comfortably can, hold for a moment at the top, then lower slowly — take about three seconds coming down. Repeat 12 times.

Find your level 1. Both hands on the counter. 2. Fingertips only. 3. One leg at a time, fingertips on the counter.
Why it matters Your calves are what push you forward with every step and what fire first when you catch a stumble. They're also one of the first muscle groups to weaken with age, and weak calves shorten your stride — which is often the earliest visible sign that steadiness is slipping.

Stand at the counter with your feet hip-width apart. Keeping your heels planted, lift your toes and the front of both feet off the floor as high as you can. Hold for a second, then lower with control. Repeat 12 times.

Find your level 1. Both hands on the counter. 2. Fingertips only. 3. Sitting in a chair with a light ankle weight, if we've given you one.
Why it matters These are the muscles that lift your toes clear of the ground mid-step. When they're weak, your toe catches on carpet edges, thresholds, and curbs — and a trip is the most common way a fall actually starts. This exercise is unglamorous and quietly one of the most protective.

Stand tall at the counter. Keeping your leg straight, your toes pointing forward, and your torso upright, lift one leg out to the side about a foot. Lower it slowly. Don't lean away from the leg you're lifting — the movement is smaller than people expect. Do 10 on each side.

Find your level 1. Both hands on the counter. 2. Fingertips only. 3. Add a resistance band around the ankles.
Why it matters Every step you take is a moment on one leg, and these hip muscles are what stop your pelvis from dropping when you're on it. Weakness here shows up as a wider, more cautious walk — and it's strongly tied to both falls and the hip and knee pain that comes with them.

Stand tall at the counter with your feet together. Bend one knee to bring your heel up toward your backside, keeping your thighs lined up next to each other and your hips still. Lower with control. Do 10 on each side.

Find your level 1. Both hands on the counter. 2. Fingertips only. 3. Add a resistance band or ankle weight.
Why it matters Your hamstrings control the leg as it swings through and slow it down before your heel lands. They also share the load with your knee joint — which matters a great deal if arthritis is part of why walking has gotten harder.
Part 2 · Balance · 6 min
Trainable, at any age

Teach the Reflex Back

Balance is a skill your nervous system keeps or loses based on whether you use it. Standing still on a narrow base feels like nothing is happening — but a great deal is. Do these near the counter, every time.

Stand next to the counter with your feet touching side by side, arms relaxed. Look straight ahead at a fixed point and hold for 30 seconds. Small sways are normal and expected — that's the system working, not failing.

Find your level 1. One hand resting on the counter. 2. Hands hovering just above it. 3. Hands off, then eyes closed for 10 seconds — only with someone nearby.
Why it matters Narrowing your base forces the small ankle and hip muscles to make constant corrections. Closing your eyes takes away vision and makes your inner ear and the sensation in your feet do the work — which is exactly what you need at night, on stairs, and in dim rooms.

Stand beside the counter and place one foot directly in front of the other, heel touching toe, as if you're on a line. Hold 30 seconds, then switch which foot is in front.

Find your level 1. Feet staggered but not touching, one hand down. 2. Full heel-to-toe, fingertips down. 3. Full heel-to-toe, hands off.
Why it matters This is the narrowest stable base there is, and it targets side-to-side control specifically. That's the direction that matters most when you turn around — and turning is when a disproportionate number of falls happen.

At the counter, lift one foot just an inch or two off the floor with a soft bend in the standing knee. Hold as long as you comfortably can, up to 30 seconds, then switch. If you can only manage five seconds at first, that's your starting number — and it will climb.

Find your level 1. Two hands on the counter. 2. Two fingers. 3. Hands hovering, no contact.
Why it matters You spend roughly 40% of every walking cycle on one leg. How long you can hold this is one of the better everyday predictors of steadiness — and unlike a lot of measures, it responds quickly to practice.

Walk forward slowly, placing the heel of your front foot directly in front of the toes of your back foot, like walking a line. Keep your eyes forward rather than on your feet. Do 10 steps, turn carefully, and come back.

Find your level 1. One hand sliding along the counter. 2. Down a hallway, a hand near each wall. 3. No support, someone nearby.
Why it matters Standing balance and moving balance are different skills, and falls happen while moving. This bridges the two — and looking ahead instead of down retrains you to trust your feet without watching them, which is what walking actually requires.
Part 3 · Real World · 4 min
Where it gets used

Carry It Out the Door

Real life doesn't happen standing still in a quiet kitchen. It happens while you're looking for a street sign, reaching for a shelf, or turning to answer someone.

Walk slowly down a hallway. On the first pass, turn your head slowly left and right every few steps. On the second pass, look up and down instead. Go slowly. If you get dizzy, stop, steady yourself, and tell us about it — that's worth knowing.

Find your level 1. Hallway with a hand near the wall, small head turns. 2. Full head turns, no support. 3. Add a task — carry a folded towel, or count backward from 50 by threes.
Why it matters Almost nobody falls while concentrating on walking. They fall while doing something else — turning toward a voice, reading a label, stepping off a curb while looking across the street. Training your balance to survive a divided attention is what makes the rest of this transfer to real life.

Face a wall with both hands on it at shoulder height. Step one foot back, keeping that heel flat on the floor and the knee straight. Lean your hips toward the wall until you feel a stretch in the back of the calf. Hold 30 seconds, then switch. Finish by circling each ankle 10 times in both directions.

Find your level 1. Short step back, gentle lean. 2. Longer step, deeper lean. 3. Repeat with the back knee slightly bent to reach the deeper calf muscle.
Why it matters Stiff ankles are one of the most overlooked causes of unsteadiness. When your ankle can't flex, your body can't make the small forward-and-back corrections that keep you upright, and you shuffle instead of walking heel-to-toe. Loosening this changes how you move immediately.

Sit toward the front of a chair with both feet flat on the floor. Lengthen up through the top of your head, gently draw your shoulder blades back and down, and take five slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Find your level 1. Back supported by the chair. 2. Sitting unsupported, away from the backrest. 3. Unsupported, eyes closed.
Why it matters A rounded upper back shifts your weight behind your feet, which means you're already leaning backward before you take a step. Resetting upright posture puts your center of gravity back where your balance system expects it — and it's the position you want to carry into the rest of the day.
If It Hurts, That's the Real Problem

Pain is the most common reason people quit a program like this — and the pain usually has a cause worth treating. We treat the conditions underneath unsteadiness: hip and knee arthritis, low back pain, neuropathy, dizziness, and weakness after surgery or a hospital stay.

📞 Schedule a Visit
Waterloo: (319) 232-2100 · Jesup: (319) 827-2223

General education from Summit Chiropractic & Physical Therapy — not a substitute for an individual evaluation. If you've fallen, feel unsteady, or have a condition affecting your heart, bones, or balance, check with us or your physician before starting.

Summit Chiropractic & Physical Therapy
Waterloo & Jesup, Iowa · summitchiroandpt.com
Room by Room
Summit Moves · 24 items

The Ten-Minute Fixes

Strength is half of it. The other half is the house. Most of these cost nothing and take an afternoon — and they're the easiest thing for family to help with.

0 of 24 done
Floors & Walkways
Stairs
Bathroom
Bedroom & Night
Kitchen & Outside
Worth Asking About
We'll Look at the Whole Picture

A safer house helps. It doesn't rebuild the strength and balance that keep you upright everywhere else. Come see us and we'll test where you actually are and build the plan from there.

📞 Schedule a Visit
Waterloo: (319) 232-2100 · Jesup: (319) 827-2223
Summit Chiropractic & Physical Therapy
Waterloo & Jesup, Iowa · summitchiroandpt.com