Older adults had higher electrophysiological costs than young adults for given balance tasks.
Older adults showed more relative muscle activity of the tibialis muscle than did young adults.
Young adults had a higher contribution from internal oblique coordination at the expense of the multifidus contribution.
Older adults showed inverse muscle activity coordination patterns at the ankle and trunk on all stance conditions.
Co-activation was higher in older adults for the ankle and higher in young adults for the trunk.