Building Balance For Building Balance
Many people, especially those in our culture, attribute leading a balanced lifestyle, at least in part, towards the enjoyment of physical activities that they can regularly engage in.
For many people, take away their physical pursuits and throw their balance off.
At this time of year, in our neck of the woods, one of the most popular ways of finding and maintaining balance is through hiking.
Banff, Canmore, Kananaskis, Lake Louise, and many other areas in or near Calgary and Alberta offer first rate hiking trails.
One of the things we need to consider in our pursuit of lifestyle balance is our physical balance.
That is, in order to minimize the risk of injury and maximize our enjoyment and proficiency at hiking (or any physical pursuit) a few proactive steps go a long way.
The first step in improving your balance is to understand how we can do so.
Three systems interact within our body to provide balance and stability as we perform physical work as mundane as sitting or as profound as summiting Mount Everest; Visual: Our eyes help us with perspective of obstacles and hazards, and also depth perception so we can gauge how our bodies must interact with the physical environment (ie the hiking trail).
Vestibular: 2 separate fluid-filled membranes in our inner ear determine the rate and amount of position change of our head.
If we are accelerating, if our weight is shifted to one side, or if we are leaning forward or backward our vestibular apparatus helps us to shift core and extremity muscle contractions to keep us upright in shifting terrain.
Proprioceptive: Joint and muscle awareness.
This is the difference between slipping on the ice, and 'catching yourself' before you fall.
Human reaction time from the central nervous system is about 0.
8 seconds.
If we had to recognize in our brain that we are about to fall and then decide what to do about it, we'd already be on the ground.
Receptor cells in and around the joints tense and relax muscles based on the rate and amount of muscle contraction or joint movement around them without having to go through a conscious process at the higher centers of the brain so that our reactions can be faster.
Once we understand the fundamental systems governing our balance, we can manipulate them in more controlled settings to achieve results that transcend the gym to help us on the trails, etc.
We can manipulate each system independently or in unison to improve balance; Visual training: Vision is key to maintaining balance, but if we rely too heavily on visual input the other 2 systems suffer.
Try not to look into the mirror when you exercise - the reflection changes as your body position does and this can throw you off.
You can also try closing your eyes for squats or other basic exercises to challenge your vestibular apparatus or proprioceptors more.
To train your vision-related balance better, pick a fixed visual point far away from you to help steady you.
Vestibular apparatus: Try looking up at the ceiling as you squat or lunge, or side to side as you try a static balance exercise.
This helps your proprioceptors and visual systems to assist your balance as your vestibular apparatus receives conflicting or challenging signals.
Proprioceptors: These will have to work a lot harder if we learn how to challenge or even turn off the other 2 systems.
Looking up at the ceiling with your eyes closed makes your joint proprioceptors do almost all of the work; hence improving joint and muscle awareness in a variety of body positions and exercises.
Proprioceptors can also be challenged by decreasing the balance base (1 legged squats instead of 2) or challenging the surface by use of a bosu, sitfit, balance board, or other implements.
All systems can be challenged at once by doing split squats, lunges, or 1 legged squats (or a side star bridge for upper body, for example) while closing your eyes while altering your head position and challenging your balance base.
By incorporating some of the above tips into your exercise regimen, you can improve your dynamic stability.
Dynamic stability, or the ability to stabilize all or part of your body as you move, is more important to athletes than static stability.
Static stability is like standing in one place on 1 foot.
Improving your static stability is like getting really good at gym exercises (like a chest press machine) that have little or no carry-over to athletic pursuits.
In order to really make your balance work pay off, you must combine movement with challenging the 3 systems of balance.
Like anything else, if you are diligent with these exercises, you will see improvements and these will manifest as fewer injuries, stronger joints (especially the ankle) and decreased effort (thus better enjoyment) of your physical pursuits like hiking, trail running, and anything else that requires you to control your body as you move; which is actually everything.
For many people, take away their physical pursuits and throw their balance off.
At this time of year, in our neck of the woods, one of the most popular ways of finding and maintaining balance is through hiking.
Banff, Canmore, Kananaskis, Lake Louise, and many other areas in or near Calgary and Alberta offer first rate hiking trails.
One of the things we need to consider in our pursuit of lifestyle balance is our physical balance.
That is, in order to minimize the risk of injury and maximize our enjoyment and proficiency at hiking (or any physical pursuit) a few proactive steps go a long way.
The first step in improving your balance is to understand how we can do so.
Three systems interact within our body to provide balance and stability as we perform physical work as mundane as sitting or as profound as summiting Mount Everest; Visual: Our eyes help us with perspective of obstacles and hazards, and also depth perception so we can gauge how our bodies must interact with the physical environment (ie the hiking trail).
Vestibular: 2 separate fluid-filled membranes in our inner ear determine the rate and amount of position change of our head.
If we are accelerating, if our weight is shifted to one side, or if we are leaning forward or backward our vestibular apparatus helps us to shift core and extremity muscle contractions to keep us upright in shifting terrain.
Proprioceptive: Joint and muscle awareness.
This is the difference between slipping on the ice, and 'catching yourself' before you fall.
Human reaction time from the central nervous system is about 0.
8 seconds.
If we had to recognize in our brain that we are about to fall and then decide what to do about it, we'd already be on the ground.
Receptor cells in and around the joints tense and relax muscles based on the rate and amount of muscle contraction or joint movement around them without having to go through a conscious process at the higher centers of the brain so that our reactions can be faster.
Once we understand the fundamental systems governing our balance, we can manipulate them in more controlled settings to achieve results that transcend the gym to help us on the trails, etc.
We can manipulate each system independently or in unison to improve balance; Visual training: Vision is key to maintaining balance, but if we rely too heavily on visual input the other 2 systems suffer.
Try not to look into the mirror when you exercise - the reflection changes as your body position does and this can throw you off.
You can also try closing your eyes for squats or other basic exercises to challenge your vestibular apparatus or proprioceptors more.
To train your vision-related balance better, pick a fixed visual point far away from you to help steady you.
Vestibular apparatus: Try looking up at the ceiling as you squat or lunge, or side to side as you try a static balance exercise.
This helps your proprioceptors and visual systems to assist your balance as your vestibular apparatus receives conflicting or challenging signals.
Proprioceptors: These will have to work a lot harder if we learn how to challenge or even turn off the other 2 systems.
Looking up at the ceiling with your eyes closed makes your joint proprioceptors do almost all of the work; hence improving joint and muscle awareness in a variety of body positions and exercises.
Proprioceptors can also be challenged by decreasing the balance base (1 legged squats instead of 2) or challenging the surface by use of a bosu, sitfit, balance board, or other implements.
All systems can be challenged at once by doing split squats, lunges, or 1 legged squats (or a side star bridge for upper body, for example) while closing your eyes while altering your head position and challenging your balance base.
By incorporating some of the above tips into your exercise regimen, you can improve your dynamic stability.
Dynamic stability, or the ability to stabilize all or part of your body as you move, is more important to athletes than static stability.
Static stability is like standing in one place on 1 foot.
Improving your static stability is like getting really good at gym exercises (like a chest press machine) that have little or no carry-over to athletic pursuits.
In order to really make your balance work pay off, you must combine movement with challenging the 3 systems of balance.
Like anything else, if you are diligent with these exercises, you will see improvements and these will manifest as fewer injuries, stronger joints (especially the ankle) and decreased effort (thus better enjoyment) of your physical pursuits like hiking, trail running, and anything else that requires you to control your body as you move; which is actually everything.
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