Balancing Your Workout for Ultimate Results
Balance is key to getting results
Improving your balance is the best way to get results from your current workout. Balance, we like it in our life, in our work and even in our car tires so why is it that more people do not utilize balance in their workouts. Now I don't mean the balance between your upper and lower parts of your body (you know what I mean, those guys with huge arms and chest and itty bitty legs and they look like a light bulb.) I mean how well you can stand on one foot or move without falling down.
The Results are Fact!
Better balance has been shown to improve weakness and unsteadiness that contribute to falls. It also helps you to avoid the risk of injury from falling. It strengthens not only muscles but also tendons, ligaments and joints. One's body uses more stabilizer muscles when you workout in an unstable(without balance)environment,so you develop muscle faster and BURN MORE CALORIES.
The body has to work more when it has to use balance in conjunction with regular exercises. A person can begin to utilize balance exercises right away by using a stability ball as a substitute for equipment such as a bench or chair. Using the stability ball improves your balance as well as strengthens your core. Simple exercises such as shown in the video below can help improve your stability and proprioception.
When doing standing exercises start by slowly lifting one foot off of the floor for one set and then the other foot on the next set. If this is difficult for you to do right now you can start by just trying to stand on one foot while waiting in line at the bank or grocery store or just brushing your teeth. For more advice and instruction on how to incorporate balance moves into your workout program check out the Personal Trainer section on this website.
