Balance
We will focus a bit of time today after our warm up practicing some Balance Challenges and Balance Training. Balance is vital in our everyday lives and we often take it for granted until we find ourselves loosing our footing, fling our arms in the air as our heart goes racing into high gear with the adrenaline rush as your body tries to save itself.
As we age there are many things that can contribute to loss of balance leading to falls:
- Vision may decrease which can lead to falls due to not seeing clearly.
- Hips and legs can become weaker making it harder to walk.
- Poor posture or spinal degeneration can make it harder to stand erect.
- The ability to lift feet decreases and leads to stumbles.
- It takes longer to react when something is in our way causing us to fall.
- Many drugs interact causing dizziness or decrease balance.
- Low blood pressure can lead to light-headedness increasing our risk of falls.
There are 3 systems that our body uses to keep our body from falling.
- Somatosensory: being able to feel the ground under your feet, sensory feedback from your feet, ankles, knees and hips
- Vision: provides feedback to your brain about your environment
- Vestibular system: your inner ear, gives your brain feedback about different kinds of motion (circular, up and down) and works very closely with your vision
Balance can decline as we age, but research suggests that we can train it. With practice and training we can limit the loss of balance associated with aging and even improve our balance. The strength training work we do each class often has a balance component (think squats, lunges and step-ups) to it and greatly assists in the prevention of falls.
So, come to class and try our Balance Challenges and Training Focus today!
Single leg challenges
Strength Focus
Bench Press 5 sets of 5 reps
Workout
In partners, complete a total of 3 rounds of the following:
40 KB swings
30 Box Step-ups
20 Push-ups
10 Rings Rows
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