...Balance Training!
Why? Well, its not to help you get home easier from the bars on the weekends. It's because last night was the first snow of the Winter season here in DC. You know what happens the day after a big snow, right?
Da -Na Na Na Na Na Naaah - Ice, Ice, Baby
All that fluffy and beautiful snow turns into treacherous and dangerous ice. My second favorite thing to see is people to first stumble, tumble, and rumble on the ice! The first is watching people get hit in the crotch on America's Funniest Home Video, love that Bob Saget. The former had me thinking about how you can improve your balance.
Balance Training is used to teach you to dynamically stabilize at your ankle, knee, and hip in a functional position (standing upright and on one leg ). 80% of the time you are on a single leg when you are walking, jogging, or running. Wouldn't be good to work on improving what you can do in a single legged stance?
As I mentioned before, this is very important part of a
comprehensive warm-up for your run, leg workout, any exercise program, or sport. Here's how you can get started working on your balance:
Balance Progressions to try when this becomes easy:
Point the non-stance foot to the front, side, and backwards, repeating for the duration of your hold
Move arms into different patterns (like Y-M-C-A or M acarena, kidding)
Barefoot
1/2 Foam Roller
Bosu Ball
Dyna Disc
Wobble Board
Balance Tips:
Stand hip width apart with your feet parallel
Take a 1/4 squat moving your hips back
Keep your eyes focused on something that is on the floor 6 ft away from you
Draw-in your stomach and clench the glute as you shift your weight to the standing leg
Try to keep the arch of your foot from flattening out
Fight the stance knee from moving inward
Balance Progressions to try when this becomes easy:
Balance Tips: