Spanning the entire earth, personal trainers push their clients up onto stability balls with claims that it increases core muscle activity and balance. While I personally think that the only reason trainers’ use the stability ball is to make their clients look silly, most trainers truly believe putting their clients onto a stability ball when performing squats will increase balance. Well, I am hear to tell you that this is extremely dangerous and there are much safer and functional ways to increase balance.
Develop Your Core
Your core is a muscular corset that stabilizes the entire body. Movement starts at the core and by improving its strength, you are improving many physical aspects including posture and stability.
When you have the ability to fire all the muscles of the core, your dynamic balance will improve in and out of the gym. Off-balance core exercises like the Side Plank and the Steel Mace Front Squat are key to building a bulletproof core.
Work On Your Breath
It should come as no surprise that breathing is one of the most important activities our body performs. Your breath is your primal life force, and learning how to breath skillfully is an important aspect for any physical practice. When it comes to working on balance, breathing is a key aspect that is often not understood.
Controlling your breath facilitates more focus and awareness of the body. When we take long, slow, deep breathes, we increase the velocity of blood that flows through all the muscle tissues of the body. This makes it easier to “turn on” and trigger parts of the body used when practicing handstands or balancing on Si Boards.
TRY THIS: For 2 minutes before every workout practice square breathing- Take a 10 second breath in, 10 second pause (At top of the breath), 10 second breath out, 10 second breath pause (at bottom of breath), Repeat.
Don’t Skip Mobility
The benefits of mobility are numerous, and any skilled coach or athlete knows its importance. It improves your position, it protects you from injury, and it can even develop your sense of balance. When rolling on a lacrosse ball or performing banded stretching, you are not only releasing tension and improving ROM, you are also heightening your self-awareness of the body.
This is called proprioception, and it is your bodies inner GPS system. When you focus on this, you are upgrading your ability to sense the position, orientation, and movement of your body.
Practice Unilateral Movements
Another important aspect of improving your balance is to have a heightened awareness of your base of gravity. This can be achieved by practicing unilateral movements meaning you are only working one limb at a time. In conventional training, bilateral movements like the Bench Press and the Back Squat are the standard.
Although these are effective training mechanisms, they don’t necessarily result in better balance. Practicing unilateral movements forces the stabilizing joint muscles to increase in strength which is where the magic happens. Some movements to get you started with unilateral training are the Single Arm Kettlebell Swing, Pistol Squat, and the Single Arm Burpee.
Play More
Play is the highest form of experimentation. Training programs certainly have their place but there is no substitute for the creativity that come from playing.
All mammals evolved through play and it is one of the most effective ways to learn new skills. When your mind is not just focused on the results, you can access a state of flow we all crave.
Close Your Eyes
Try standing on one foot. It is not that hard, right? Now close your eyes and do it. Your sense of vision plays a huge roll in your ability to find balance. It works in conjunction with the vestibular system in your inner ear that controls motion, equilibrium, and spatial orientation. When you take away the input from the eyes, it forces you to focus deeply on using the vestibular system more effectively.
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