Balance Exercises

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Each person can develop a sense of balance and not only stand on one leg without problems, but also perform complex gymnastic elements. Life hacker will show you some balance exercises that will help you better control your body and reduce the risk of injury in sports and in life.

Why develop a sense of balance

There are several reasons why you should practice your sense of balance.

1. Prevents injuries in the gym and in life

It doesn't matter if you slipped on the first ice or on a wet bathroom floor, stumbled on the stairs with a grocery bag, or in the gym with a barbell on your shoulders - a good sense of balance will help you to react instantly and keep from falling.

2. Allows you to perform complex movements

With a good sense of balance, you will be able to perform complex gymnastic and weightlifting movements, master figure skating, snowboarding, surfing, cycling tricks and other interesting sports.

3. Helps to overcome age-related changes

With age, the sense of balance worsens, the risk of injuries increases, which is much more difficult to recover from than in youth. Exercise will help you avoid age-related changes and reduce the risk of sprains and fractures from awkward falls.

These exercises will help you develop a sense of balance. Start with the simplest options that do not require additional equipment, and gradually build up the exercises.

Exercises without equipment

1. Tree pose

This is a well-known asana that even a beginner can do.

• Stand up straight, lift one leg and place your foot on the inner thigh of the other leg.
• The knee of the supporting leg is straightened and tucked up, the other knee looks to the side.
• Do not fall on your hip, try to stretch your body up.
• Fold your arms over your head or in front of you.
• Hold the pose for 30 seconds.

To make it easier to maintain balance, imagine three points on the foot that form a triangle - two at the edges of the foot and one on the heel. Feel these points as you hold the pose: this will help to distribute the weight evenly.

If you can easily do this pose, try closing your eyes.

2. Warrior Pose III

• Stand straight with your arms straight above your head.
• Bend forward with your back straight until your body and arms are parallel to the floor.
• Raise one leg to parallel with the floor.
• The leg, back, and arms should be in a straight line.
• Look down, do not wring your neck.
• Hold the pose for 30 seconds and repeat on the other leg.

You can also apply the three-point method to this pose.

3. Squats on one leg

This is a dynamic exercise that will help build core and leg muscles and improve coordination.

• Stand straight with your left hand on your belt, bend your left knee and lift your foot off the floor - this is the starting position.
• Do a squat on your right leg, at the same time tilt your body and touch the floor with your right hand next to your right foot.
• Return to starting position and repeat the exercise.
• Do 10 squats and repeat on the other leg.

4. Jumping from side to side

This exercise is similar to the previous one, but with a side jump.

• Do a squat on your right leg, touching the floor with your right hand, as described above.
• Straighten up and make a side jump on your left leg, changing arms. After landing, you stand on your left foot, your right leg is off the ground, your right hand is on your belt, and your left is lowered along your body.
• Do a squat on your left leg, touching the floor with your left hand, straighten and jump to the side on your right leg.
• Do three sets of 10 reps.

5. Raising arms and legs on all fours

This exercise looks very simple, but to do it, you need to keep your abs, shoulders and arms in constant tension. It perfectly pumps the muscles of the core - just what is needed to maintain balance.

• Get on all fours.
• Extend your right arm and right leg.
• Hold the pose for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.

Exercises with Bosu and the ball

Any exercise performed on the Bosu trains your sense of balance and core muscles. Here are some interesting options.

1. Jumping on the soft part

• Turn the Bosu over with the soft end facing up and stand on top of it.
• Feet shoulder width apart, put your hands on your belt.
• Take 10 jumps, rest, and do two more approaches.
• If you want to complicate things, try jumping with a 90 or 180 degree turn.

2. Jumping on Bosu with a U-turn

• Turn the Bosu upside down.
• Move one or two steps away from Bosu.
• Jump onto Bosu while jumping with your back forward.
• Get off Bosu and repeat on the other side.

3. Plank with hands on Bosu and legs on a medicine ball

• Turn the Bosu over with the solid side up, stand in a prone position and place your hands on the edges of the platform.
• Place your feet on the medball.
• Hold the position for 30 seconds to a minute.

4. Throwing the ball into the wall

• Place Bosu next to the wall.
• Stand on the flat part of the Bosu with your feet on the edges of the platform and pick up a fitball, medball, or medicine ball.
• Throw the ball against the wall in front of you and catch it while maintaining your balance.
• Do three sets of 10 reps.

5. Pose of a warrior with a ball in his hands

• Tilt your torso to parallel with the floor and extend your arms with a medicine ball over your head.
• When you are balanced, lift one leg and bring it parallel to the floor.
• The raised leg, body and hands with the ball are in one line.
• Hold the pose for 30 seconds.

You can find more exercises with Bosu and a ball here.

Balance Board Exercises

The balance board is used by surfers to develop balance before going out on a big wave. It is very simple and compact, perfectly pumps the sense of balance and does not get bored: the process is delaying, it seems that you can catch the balance on it for ages.

The board costs about four thousand rubles, but you can easily make one with your own hands. For the board itself, you need a sheet of plywood, and the roller can be made from PVC or metal pipe.

What to do with the board

First of all, you need to learn how to stand on it. At first, you can use the support to get up on the balance board, and then learn to do it without support.

You need to get up smoothly, gradually transferring your body weight to the other leg, otherwise the roller may slip out from under the board (if you have not made the restraints) and you will fall.

Once you learn how to get on the balance board and roll the board freely from side to side, you can always learn how to jump on the board, walk on it, turning sideways, or, for example, do squats.

That's all. If you have your favorite balance exercises, share in the comments.