| Importance
of good balance
The most important
physical attribute a one or two year old can have is
good balance.
As we get older this
changes to bones, muscles and aerobic capacity. When a
person gets older we revert back to the importance of
the ability of balance.
The main objective for
good balance is preventing a fall, and all the
complications that go with it.
The best way to minimize injuries from falling is
to practice balancing exercises and strengthening the
muscles that support you.
Muscles
that help
Strengthening
your supporting muscles is crucial to good balance. When
you are standing the most important muscles are your hip
muscles, hip flexors and your quadriceps (those are the
muscles in the front of your upper legs).
The other group of muscles and tendons you need
to strengthen are you ankles and your tibalis anterior
muscles. (Tibalis anterior muscles is also known as your
shin splint muscles. Anyone who has ever had shin
splints knows how painful those muscles can feel.
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Balancing
Exercises
To
improve your overall balance there are a number of ways you can approach
this situation. Walking on a balance beam on the floor. If this not
realistic for you, try placing a strip of masking tape and walk toe to
toe over the tape. Using a half cylinder is a wonderful way to increase
your ankle strength and improve your balance. If you are just starting
working out you can try standing on one foot at a time. Another
technique is to stand with your eyes closed. (It’s harder then you
think!) If you do find this to easy then try standing on one leg with
your eyes close. It is recommended that for safety reasons you practice
techniques by a wall.
When walking I have found
that one of the biggest problems that causes falling is
when a person keeps their arms at their sides. By
allowing your arms to swing you create a counter balance
motion that will help you stabilize.
If by chance you do fall, your arms will be
already out in front of you and will help minimize
injuries by helping break your fall or will allow you to
grab on to a nearby object.
In
later weeks I will have specific exercises that you can
do to help strengthen the muscle groups mentioned
earlier in this article.
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