The importance of balance training

No matter your age, balance training can be beneficial to your health. In addition to improving your balance, it can help you build your strength and flexibility.

For older men and women, it helps to prevent falls, which can result in broken bones and other serious injuries. For youth, it can help them improve their coordination, which can help them greatly in any sports that they may play. And for everyone else, it can ensure optimal health for your muscles and also improve your fitness.

So, what is balance training? Remember when you were a kid, and you would race your best friend to see who could hop on one foot the longest? Or, you practiced walking back and forth in your hallway with a book on your head?

These are considered balance training exercises, although there are more specific routines that are created today. Often times, balance training refers to an exercise program that has a number of exercises that focus specifically on helping you balance better.

These may include several exercises that complement your normal workout, or it may be something prescribed by your physical therapist in order to help you recover from an injury or strengthen a specific group of muscles, like your pelvic floor.

These exercises most often use specific tools like BOSU balls, which look like a stability ball was cut in half and rocker boards.

These tools help ensure that your exercises are isolating specific muscles, which will ensure that you are engaging one individual muscle to maintain stabilization.

On top of that, it can improve your neuromuscular coordination – helping to improve how your brain and muscles coordinate. Specifically, balance training can improve hip and core stabilization, which can improve your coordination and posture.

Stay tuned… we'll be sharing some of our favorite balance training exercises in an upcoming post!