Balancing Acts
For: Core Conditioning—Build
a Better Platform, February 2003
Balance is perhaps the most overlooked element of fitness. You’re unlikely to be aware of it, unless you have trouble with it—that is, you fall—or until you undertake a sport or activity that calls for good balance.
Balance is controlled by an array of bodily systems that pick up sensory information of all kinds, including feedback from nerves and muscles. In older people, balance may worsen because they tend to become less fit overall, and because sensory receptors throughout the body work less well. But loss of balance and falls are hardly confined to those over 60. The sense of balance actually starts to decline at about age 25. And younger people may be more likely to take chances—for example, climbing too high on a ladder. Thus, everybody should try to improve balance. This has another plus: balance training can make you feel more graceful and improve coordination and posture.
First, test your sense of balance, as follows. Close your eyes, slowly lift one foot, and see how long you can stand on the other foot (stand near a chair or a surface you can grab, if need be). Most people over 40 can’t last 15 seconds. Even if you make it past 15 seconds, it’s worth thinking about improvements.
You don’t need to walk a tightrope
To preserve your sense of balance, stay as fit as you can. Any kind of exercise—walking, swimming, strength training, cycling, or even gardening—can improve balance.
One
specific aid is a balance board (also called a wobble or rocker board).
Physical therapists use this low-tech device to help patients recover
from ankle sprains, and now the boards are turning up in many gyms and
sporting-goods stores (usually selling for $35 to $100).
The small wooden or plastic boards sit on a short base that acts as a fulcrum. Square or rectangular boards sit on a ridge-shaped or curved base and rock from side to side or front to back. Circular boards, which sit on round bases, rock in all directions and are harder to balance on. You shift your weight to rock on the board, or to balance without moving. Exercising on the board also helps strengthen muscles in your legs and, depending on your posture, abdomen.
If you try a balance board at a health club, ask one of the instructors for guidance. It isn’t as easy as it looks, and there are many ways to vary the workout (depending on where you place your feet, whether you rock or try to stay still, do semi-squats, or even balance on one foot). If you buy a board, consult the instruction booklet. If you become confident enough, you can do some of exercises with your eyes closed, which is much harder, but improves your balance skills even more.
When first starting out, you should definitely have something (or someone) at hand that you can grab if you need to steady yourself or start to fall. Choose a nonskid surface.
Easy exercises you can do with no equipment:
• Standing near a support, rise to your tiptoes 10 times. Repeat with your eyes closed.
• Stand on one leg, flexing the other knee slightly. Repeat 10 times, then repeat with eyes closed.
• Using the same set-up, lift one leg to the side, then the other leg. Repeat 10 times.
• Spend a little time each day standing on one foot, then the other.
• Enroll in a tai chi class (see Wellness Letter, June 2002), a good way to improve balance.
Words to the wise: If you frequently get dizzy or lose your balance, consult your doctor.
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, August 2002