Balance is a simple but important part of good movement. With good balance, body control and position sense, we can move and coordinate better for both sport and day-to-day activities. This helps lessen injury and pain. Try our simple tips for working on balance control.
Hi, this is Dana Ranahan at Body Works Sports Physiotherapy and we’re here today to talk about some balance training. It’s the time of year when we’re out hiking in the back country, trail running, and doing all kinds of active things outdoors. Balance can be really important to help you avoid injury, or at least lessen your risk.
Feet Together
The first test is putting both feet together. I like to do this without shoes on because shoes give you some support.
- Bare feet
- Feet right together
- Narrow your base of support and then stand tall
- Close your eyes and see if you can maintain it
That may be quite easy for a bunch of you, but for some of you it may be a little bit tricky. If it is tricky, that’s a really good place for you to start. Closing the eyes takes away your vision and forces your inner ear and some of your nerves, joints, and muscles to help you sense where you are in space.
Tandem Stance
One of the other challenges that we can add is moving the feet into a forward and backward position. This is more difficult, and when you close your eyes it is harder to maintain. You can see my body swing a little bit, so this would be a good place for me to work on some balance.
Then you can switch and alternate feet because you’ll often have a bit of asymmetry side to side.
So again, lining up, feeling like you have your balance steady, and then closing eyes and seeing if you can maintain. If you feel like you’re falling over, obviously step aside. If it’s too hard with your eyes closed, you can practice with your eyes open.
For more balance tips or information check out our other balance videos.