When most people think about getting in shape and trying to get fit, they think of resistance training and cardio. But in reality there is a whole field of training devoted to enhancing your stability and balance. While some schools of thought think of this type of training as a foundation to be built upon, others don’t really consider it at all. So you may be wondering, do you really need stability or balance training?
Balance training is extremely important for virtually everybody who is interested in performing at the best and reducing the risk of various occupational and sports related injuries. Training for balance and stability will strengthen your joints, improve your posture, and increase your maximum output in the most athletic endeavors and other types of training. While trainees of practically any age can benefit from balance and stability training, the older crowd (40 and older) and those who are new to working out, stand to gain the most from adding this type of training to their regular fitness routine
Maybe you’re just interested in getting yourself into a little better shape and you don’t consider yourself an athlete by any stretch. What if you’re older? Maybe you just want to burn some calories and don’t think that stability and balance training will be worth your time. Well I would disagree and think that people of all different stages in life and ability levels can benefit from stability training. So, let’s look a little deeper.
Why is stability and balance training important?
The most obvious benefit of balance training is that it will improve your stability and balance. This means less falls, more agility, and lower chance of injury in many tasks from sports to job related activities. It also means that your body is better prepared to take on new exercises in the gym.
The ability of balance and stability training to reduce injuries is a big reason to do it. If you enjoy the play sports – especially sports like basketball or tennis which involve rapidly changing direction on a hard surface – It would be wise to add some balance training to your routine to safeguard your ankles, knees, and hips.
Balance training will increase your overall strength and muscular performance. In effect, the continued practical strengthening of your joints and the surrounding muscles that stabilize them, will not just strengthen your joints but will actually allow for greater lifts and more intense output. Some part of this may be due to the confidence that you’ll gain as your ankles and other lower body joints become more stable. You will feel more in-control and less vulnerable as you develop your balance to a higher degree.
For some information regarding how balance training can lead to a gain in strength and muscular balance, check out this study from the Department of Sports Medicine at the University of Tubingen.
If you are new to working out, it is very important to start out with balance training before doing any resistance training to strengthen stabilize your joints and prepare them for new movements, loads, and positions.
If you are in your later years, balance and stability training are even more important. As we age, everybody starts to lose their balance to some degree. As hospital statistics show us, falls account for a staggering number of injuries to those over 65 each year. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says that in the US, one out of four adults over 65 years old will fall each year.
Balance training can reduce the rate and risk of injury for people of many ages and walks of life – even those who are already in good physical condition. It is simple to get started and there are many progressions that can start from an activity as simple as balancing on one foot. Start with balance and progress to dynamic balance training.
What if my stability and balance are already good?
No matter how good you think your stability and balance already is, you can still benefit from some actual balance training. Even an elite-level athlete can enhance their performance and effectively reduce their risk of injury.
Increasing the stability of your joints, particularly injury prone ones such as ankles and knees, can only help towards your overall fitness or athletic goals.
Another thing to consider is when we are speaking about balance, we are not simply speaking about the ability to maintain equilibrium when standing still. We are also speaking about dynamic balance. This is the ability to maintain equilibrium while moving and changing directions under a variety of conditions. So, why you may have excellent balance while stationary, even being able to perform a number of one-legged balances, your dynamic balance could be lacking.
For example, you may be able to stand on one foot all day long, but be terrible at balance lunges. A balance lunge is when you push up out of the lower lunged position and balance on the leading foot for two to three seconds before performing the next repetition.
An exercise like this is very different from balancing in a stationary position because you have to absorb the momentum, slow the movement of your body weight down to a halt, and pause. This means that your body is working with and against a number of forces that simply aren’t present when balancing in a stationary position.
Do core exercises improve balance and stability?
The lumbo-pelvic-hip complex, or core as it is commonly known, is at the center of your body’s ability to balance and control movement in unstable conditions.
The core is very important for the reduction of risk of injury for your back and in most major lifts. It is easy to think of the body as multiple groups of muscles that work in isolation to move particular limbs. However the muscles of your entire body work together to form a kinetic chain. A chain, as we all know, is only as strong as its weakest link. This also applies to the core’s role in stabilization and balance.
Strengthening your core can greatly enhance your balance, and help you maintain proper posture. Having good posture is one of the cornerstones of good balance.
Training the core does not simply mean training the abdominal muscles. While the abdominals are an important part of the core, the lower back, hip flexors, obliques and various other small muscle groups all combine to stabilize the spine and anchor it to the pelvis.
Some good exercises to strengthen your core, with an effect on balance training in mind, are:
- Planks
- Side planks
- Bridges
- Superman’s
- Twists
- Side bends
- Bent-over twists
- and many more...
Can a weak core cause balance problems?
A weak core can cause all sorts of problems. Leaving you vulnerable to injury, a weak point here in the center of your body can result in you having weak control over your balance.
There are many factors involved in determining how good or bad your balance is, from inner ear conditions, eyesight, proprioceptive receptors, weight, age and many others. But a strong core and regular balance training will help enable you to perform physically at your maximum. This is because the body needs to adapt to controlling eccentric contractions and stabilizing before initiating the concentric contractions. If you can properly control the external loads placed on your body during training, you’ll be able to push more weight in the long run.
Without proper core training, other muscles that are involved synergistically will step up and play a greater role in movements that should be dominated by the muscles of the core. Any time the synergists are overactive and the prime movers are underactive, the results are imbalances in the body’s kinetic chain. This can lead to poor balance, and injury. So, be sure to train your lower abdominals, lower back, obliques, hip flexors, and other muscles of the core regularly in addition to your balance training.
What are some good exercises to improve stability?
It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes of balance and stability training, performed three times a week for a marked improvement in both static and dynamic balance after a month or so.
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It is not necessary to devote hours upon hours to balance and stability training. Simply add some movements to the end of your resistance workout, or after your cardio. Whatever you normally do for exercise, simply add a few balance moves to your regimen and you will start to see and feel improvements in your performance.
You should start with some balance-stabilization exercises that involve little movement. These will enhance your static balance and will prepare you to progress to dynamic balance movements. Some good balance and stability exercises to begin with are as follows:
- Single leg balance
- Single leg balance and reach
- Single leg lift and chop
- Single leg throw and catch (need a partner, or a wall and good aim)
These exercises, and others like them, are a great place to start working on your balance and ability to stabilize your body in unstable conditions.
The idea is to start with balancing stabilization exercises where you master your body weight in a fairly stationary position, or at least with only a small degree of movement.
The next step would be to perform stabilization and balance exercises which also require strength and help to develop that in addition to balance.
Finally, you will progress to balance and power exercises, when your body not only has to stabilize and balance itself, but is also trained to produce maximum force in as short of time as possible.
How do you know if you need to work on balance and stability?
Go ahead and attempt some of these exercises, and if you can’t do them perfectly immediately, you need some balance and stability training. Unless you are some sort of miracle-person, you will need work on this.
There are ways you can test your stability and balance, to gauge your ability and see how much work you need. (Here’s a secret: if you’ve never done any balance instability training, you will need some).
As we get older, usually after 40, our balance slowly starts to decline. If you are middle-aged or older, you could almost certainly benefit from some balance and stability training.
If you start to feel like your balance is declining, the first thing you should do is go and talk to your doctor to rule out any inner ear problems, vision issues, or anything else. If your decline in balance is found to be a normal, age-related issue, then it is a good time to start thinking about adding some balance training to your weekly fitness routine.
How do you take your stability and balance training to the next level?
Once you have mastered the basic balance and stability exercises and want to take your balance training to the next level, there are many more challenging exercises that you can progress to.
Balance strength exercises will be the logical next step. This stage of balance training will further develop neuromuscular efficiency and dynamic control of your weight through a full range of movement.
Examples of this type of exercise include:
- Single leg squats
- Single leg squat toe-touches
- Lunge to balance (in multiple planes)
- Step-up to balance (in multiple planes)
Once you have performed these movements for 4+ weeks and have mastered them, the final step will be balance and power training. This stage will enhance your dynamic ability to decelerate to a static position, then rapidly accelerate out of this position. This is the most challenging stage in balance training, and it is crucially important that you don’t skip ahead through the first two stages to get here faster. You’ll need the solid foundation that static balance training and balance-strength training will supply to you before you progress to training for balance and power.
Examples of balance and power training exercises include:
- Single leg box hop up with stabilization (multiple planes – switch it up and hit it from different directions)
- Single leg box hop downs (multiple planes)
- Multi-directional hop with stabilization
In these movements it is important to pause at the end of the range of motion for 2-3 seconds to allow for proper stabilization. This is the purpose of the exercise – to develop joint stability and power (max force at max speed, under max control), it is not to pump up your muscles or to burn calories. So focus on proper movement and rapid deceleration, to stabilization, to rapid acceleration.
Finally, another way to progress your way through balance training is by graduating your basic stability training to a less stable environment. This means that you will progress your basic balance training from (for example) a single-legged balance on the floor, to performing the exercise on a wooden beam, foam pad, Bosu ball, or even a vibration plate. This is known as controlled instability, and adding these pieces of apparati to the exercises will force your muscles and joints to adapt even further and will greatly assist you in developing your balance.
If you’re convinced, and need to get a good sturdy box for jump-ups and jump-downs, you’ll need a good quality box to do jumps off of and onto, check out this very affordable plyometric box on Amazon.
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