Finding Balance 

On Saturday the family and I decided to go on a little hiking adventure.

In places it was quite overgrown, there were a few sheer drops and certainly a fair few obstacles in the form of rocks to scale. While hiking I started to think about balance.. Not in the yin and yang of life but literal balance. Many of us under the age of 60 take balance for granted. 

Yes, you may walk around never tripping or falling but I believe everyone would be served well to practise their balance skills. Having good balance skills provides you with the safety and confidence to do both what you want and what you need without fear. 

Having good balance also makes for easier movement, less aches and pains and better athletic performance 

According to research, someone falls every second of every day. In older folks it’s 36 million falls a year, and it’s the leading cause of injury and injury related death. 

For those that take a fall, their circle of life often diminishes. They become far more risk averse, they lead smaller lives restricting themselves from activities like hiking or even just social interactions. They move less, get weaker and ultimately impair their balance further. 

Society believes that falls are just a part of getting old but I disagree. Falls don’t always have to happen and the skill of balance can be gained and retrained. 

If you think falls are just for the aged, you’d be wrong. In fact falls are the third leading cause of unintentional injuries for people aged 18-35. Some of these injuries are alcohol related but a large majority of them are because we are staring at phones and not paying attention to where we’re going.  

Working on your balance doesn’t require any formal training, it doesn’t need to be an arduous task either. I believe that in order to create better balance we need to look at it through the lens of a child. Playing and having fun with it, is all you really need. 

Try brushing your teeth while standing on one leg or do the dishes on one leg. You could even close your eyes for an extra challenge… BUT don’t blame me if you break a dish 😉 

Here is a quick test to see how you’re doing with your balance skills… 

It’s called the Old Man Balance Test which you may have seen doing its rounds on instagram 

Essentially you are going to try and put your socks and shoes on without falling down

Your Results 

If you managed the Old Man Balance Test without touching the floor with your foot then you have a green light. 

If you touch the floor with your foot one or two times then you’re doing pretty good and you get an orange light. A bit of practise and you will find that it won’t be long before you are green lighting 

If you touch the floor more than three times, then you’re in the right place. Your balance needs some work. Note.. it doesn’t make you a bad person 😉 it just means you would be well served to spend some time working on the skill of balance 

Balance is primarily driven by 3 main drivers. 

1 – The Vestibular System 

The vestibular system, also known as your inner ear, is a bunch of ring shaped canals and tiny little organs filled with fluid, each highly sensitive to different types of motion. 

2 – The Proprioception System 

Proprioception, otherwise known as kinesthesia, is your body’s ability to sense movement, action and location. In every muscle, ligament, joint and tendon you have receptors that send information about your body’s position and movements to the central nervous system, which in turn signals the muscles to properly respond. 

Proprioception helps you right yourself when you trip but regain balance. It’s the system that allows you to close your eyes and touch your nose without missing 😉 try it 

3 – The Vision system 

When your head moves your inner ear signals for your eyes to move in order to stabilise your gaze. 

When you stand on one leg you may note that it’s not that difficult, but when you close your eyes notice how much harder it is. Your vision and eyes play a significant role in balance. 

The big key with all these systems is that they send information to your brain, your brain then sends the appropriate information back in order to balance. In super simple terms… 

Better information, better outformation 😉 

With that said, I can’t talk about balance without talking about the feet. Our feet are our first port of call to the Earth. 

‘’The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art’’ – Leonardo da Vinci

The human foot has over 200,000 nerve endings all sending signals to the brain. Because many of us live in spongy cushioned shoes or what I call –  foot condoms we are robbed of sensory input that helps build balance. 

Our feet want to be strong and and sensitive to stimuli 

Our ankles also play a role in balance too. If our ankles lack range of motion they also lack input. When we have full range of motion within our ankles our brain knows it and will move the ankles to respond. Tripping is part of life and I would say it’s not the trip but the ability to respond to it. 

When I am out on a hike or on the ski slope I often have a moment of slip but more often than not my ankles adjust and respond to prevent an accident turning into a disaster. 

Exercises and drills 

There are literally endless amounts you could do under the umbrella of balance but below are a few of my favs 

Be Barefoot 

The more time you spend barefoot the more you will light up the nerves on the soles of your feet. As I mentioned above.. Those nerves will signal the brain which in turn will signal the body as to where it needs to be.

Y balance test 

Imagine you are standing in the centre of a large ‘Y’ on the floor. The single line of the Y is in front of you and the two folks are behind you. Balance on one leg and reach the other leg as far forward as you can without losing balance. Next, reach the leg behind for one fork and then reach as far as you can for the other folk. 

The Y balance test is actually used by many athletes as a way to measure stability and control. It serves both as a test and as an exercise. 

For an added challenge stand on a half foam roller.

Jumping, Swinging and Rocking

 All stimulate the vestibular system. Children innately seem to know these things. Go to any child’s playground and you will see kids laughing and screaming with joy as they jump and swing their way around the park. 

If you’re not quite ready to embrace your inner child then good old jump rope or skipping will do the job nicely

Rocking is also a great way of stimulating our vestibular system. Physically we can feel our body move whilst our visual senses adapt to the changing perspectives – paired together, our body starts to recognise and adjust to the rhythmic motion, and we begin to develop our sense of balance.

Slacklining 

I love slacklining and though I am yet to get up to the big high lines I do love to simply play on my low level slackline at our gym. 

I consider slackline as a pretty advanced form of balance training and it’s not for everyone. If you’re 90 then I’m gonna give you a get out of jail free card. For everyone else it’s time to get your slack on.

The beauty of all exercises is that there is always a progression and a regression. 

• Start with the slackline low to the ground. 
• Use supports in the way of hiking poles or a line above you that you can hold onto