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Balance training is important at all ages, but our balance begins to decline at around age 50
What do activities like walking, climbing stairs, bending over to tie your shoes, carrying a laundry basket, and reaching to put away the dinner dishes all have in common? They’re all a balancing act! Yes, body balance is required in every activity that we perform in our daily lives.Our balancing abilities don’t only kick in when we try to stand on one foot or carry a full glass while trying not to spill it. Our balance is at work every minute that we are standing upright and performing all our daily tasks. Although often overlooked in many training regimens, balance training is an important skill that can improve our quality of life, as well as boost our independence and longevity as we age. Although some individuals are more naturally adept at balance than others, we must remember that balance is a trainable skill, and the more we train, the better we will be.
The goal of balance training is to force the body to stay slightly off balance while performing an exercise. This will help the body train itself to stabilize in an unsteady situation. Although lifting a knee while doing bicep curls, or standing on balance training discs while doing squats, may not seem like a huge deal, our reaction time when our bodies are thrown off balance is a key element in fall and injury prevention.
Think about it like this. You’re walking along talking to a friend and you don’t realize that the sidewalk in front of you is about to take a little dip. You stumble. What happens next? Either your body reacts immediately to rebalance and catch itself, or you fall.
Training our bodies to work in an unstable environment will sharpen our reflexes and help to prepare us for these instances where life can quite literally throw us off balance.
Balance training is important at all ages, from improving speed and agility for athletes to helping kids with a game of hopscotch, but our balance begins to decline at around age 50 and continues to decline as we age. This fact makes balance training that much more important to our overall well-being.
In my new series, Lift, Move & Restore: Functional Training for the Actively Aging Lifestyle, we will explore some balance training techniques to assist in building strength, stability, coordination, and body awareness. This type of training can help us stand taller, react faster, and improve our overall performance in fitness and in everyday life.
