Balance Training: Not Just for the Elderly
What Is Balance Training and Where Did We Go Wrong?
What comes to mind when you think of balance training? Many people think that balance training is only for elderly adults who are at risk of falling. Yes, balance training is great in that scenario, but it is also an important part of any fitness routine. If you look at it from an ancestral perspective, balance has always been an important part of human development. It is a key element required for many functional tasks. In today’s society, it seems as if we only train balance after an injury or in the elderly sub-population. As kids, many of us are involved in sport, which challenges our balance. However, as we grow up and enter the “real world,” we often forget about this important aspect of fitness.
Our ability to balance is comprised of three different systems
- Vestibular: The vestibular system involves three semicircular canals within your inner ear that respond to fluid shifts and allow you to know which way your body is moving. I’ve published a research article in the International Journal of Clinical Medicine about the vestibular system if you’d like to learn more.
- Vision: Your vision is also a key part of your balance systems. Try standing on one foot. Now try it with your eyes closed. It’s a bit more difficult now because you’ve taken vision away and are now only relying on the vestibular system and proprioception.
- Proprioception: Proprioception is a very intricate system. You have tons of different receptors in your joints, skin, ligaments, and tendons that detect body position and movement. These proprioceptors relay that information to the brain to allow you to know where your body is in space.
Think back to when you were a kid; running around, climbing trees, jumping from log to log, and playing sports. You were constantly challenging your body and testing your limits of balance. These types of activities are important for cortical growth and brain development. Our bodies were meant to move and be used to help us navigate through the world. It seems we have lost this important part of our history. If you look at the fall rates among elderly adults these days, they are outrageous. That is why there has been a strong push in the physical therapy community to integrate balance training into elderly fitness programs. What about everyone else in the world? Do we not need to train our balance?
Why Balance Training Is Important
As I’ve mentioned earlier, balance training, and general resistance training, is important for cortical growth and brain development. Most of us are cooped up in an office all day and don’t allow our brains to be creative with movement. When we stop participating in sport, all of our movements become anticipatory and we lose the ability to be reactive. What I mean by this is that we always know what our body is going to do. Our brain never has to react to external stimuli. Balance training allows your body and brain to have to work on another level, constantly reacting to external stimuli. As you start losing your balance, your proprioceptors quickly tell your brain that an adjustment must be made in order for you to stay upright. This type of training is very important for the mind-body connection.
Perhaps the biggest argument to implementing balance training is so that you can train your vestibular system and proprioception in order to decrease fall risk as you age. Increased fall risk is directly correlated to morbidity.
Balance training is great for the core muscles. If you’re still doing sit ups to train your abs, we need to have a talk. Doing a bunch of sit ups is the best way for you to herniate a disc in your lumbar spine. There are much better ways to train your core muscles, including balance training. Different types of balance training can be excellent for core activation because your core muscles are constantly having to react and fire in order to keep your body upright. Once your center of mass (your core) goes outside your base of support, you fall. Therefore, these muscles are always working hard during balance tasks.
How To Incorporate Balance Training Into Your Routine
I think that most people don’t understand the benefits of balance training, and therefore neglect to implement it. Balance training isn’t sexy. Using balance training alone isn’t necessarily going to shed fat and get you ripped. However, there are definitely ways to incorporate it into your usual workout routine. Here are some suggestions:
Make Balance Training Part of Your Workout: My #1 suggestion for incorporating balance training into your routine is to simply add it to your resistance training workouts. For example, if you’re in the gym doing bicep curls, try standing on one leg during that exercise. You’ll notice that your core has to work much harder because of the offset weight distribution. Do the same thing with the shoulder press. Try adding balance components to all of your exercises. Perhaps instead of bench press, you lay on a swiss ball and do dumbbell chest press. You get the point…
Single Leg Training: When you do a leg workout, try adding some single leg training instead of double leg activities. Try single leg squats or single leg deadlifts. Not only does this challenge your neuromuscular patterns and improve neural firing, but it also allows you to notice any imbalances between your own limbs. Single leg training is especially important for runners because running is a single-limb contact sport.
Train Your Balance During Simple Daily Tasks: If you’re not a gym-goer, you can still train your balance during everyday tasks. Next time you brush your teeth, try standing on one leg the entire time. If that’s too easy, perhaps you close your eyes. There are simple ways to train your balance systems without going to the gym.
Develop A Yoga Routine: Yoga is an excellent way to train your balance. Some of the poses require a high level of balance control. The great thing about yoga is that you can always modify poses as needed. This activity is not only good for the body, but it’s also a good stress reliever and excellent to sync your body and mind.
Dynamic Warm Ups and Cool Downs: Adding some simple agility moves to your warm up or cool downs is another simple way to add balance training. The possibilities are endless and you’re only limited by your imagination.
As always, please feel free to comment and share this post. Here are a few products that I personally use and recommend for balance training. Enjoy!