Why develop a sense of balance?
There are several reasons why you should take care of your sense of balance.
1. Prevents injury in the gym and in life
It does not matter if you slipped on the first ice or on the wet floor in the bathroom, stumbled on the stairs with a package of food or in the gym with a barbell on your shoulders – a good sense of balance will help you instantly react and stay from falling.
2. Allows you to perform complex movements
With a good sense of balance, you can perform complex gymnastic and weightlifting movements, master figure skating, snowboarding, surfing, bicycle tricks and other interesting sports.
3. Helps overcome age-related changes
With age, the sense of balance deteriorates, the risk of injury increases, recovery after which is much more difficult than in youth. Training will help to avoid age-related changes, reduce the risk of sprains and fractures from embarrassing falls.
These exercises will help you develop a sense of balance. Start with the simplest options that do not require additional equipment, and gradually complicate the exercises.
Exercises without equipment
1. Tree Pose
This is a well-known asana, which even a beginner can perform.
- Stand upright, lift one leg and put a foot on the inside of the thigh of the other leg.
- The knee of the supporting leg is straightened and taut, the other knee looks away.
- Do not bounce on the hip, try to pull the body up.
- Fold your arms above your head or in front of you.
- Hold the pose for 30 seconds.
In order to keep the balance easier, 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 while holding the pose: this will help to evenly distribute the weight.
If you can easily perform this pose, try closing your eyes.
2. Pose of the Warrior III
- Stand upright, lift upright hands over your head.
- Make a slope forward with a straight back, until the body and hands are parallel to the floor.
- Raise one leg to the parallel with the floor.
- The leg, back and arms should be a straight line.
- Look down, do not wring your neck.
- Hold the pose for 30 seconds and repeat with the other leg.
To this pose, you can also apply a method with three dots on the foot.
3. Squats on one leg
This is a dynamic exercise that will help pump the muscles of the bark and legs, as well as improve coordination of movements.
- Stand up straight, put your left hand on your waist, bend the left knee and tear off the foot from the floor – this is the starting position.
- Do squats on the right foot, simultaneously tilt the body and with your right hand, touch the floor next to the right foot.
- Return to the starting position and repeat the exercise.
- Perform 10 sit-ups and repeat with the other leg.
4. Jumping from side to side
This exercise is similar to the previous one, but is supplemented by a jump to the side.
- Do a squat on the right foot, touching the floor with your right hand, as described above.
- Straighten and make a leap to the side on the left foot, changing hands. After landing, you stand on your left foot, your right leg is torn from the ground, your right arm is on your belt, the left one is lowered along the body.
- Do squats on your left foot, touching the floor with your left hand, straighten and jump to the side on your right foot.
- Do three sets of 10 times.
5. Lifting hands and feet on all fours
This exercise looks very simple, but to perform it, you need to keep the press, your shoulders and your arms in constant tension. It perfectly pumps muscles of the bark – just what is needed to maintain balance.
- Stand on all fours.
- Pull out 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 Bosu trains a sense of balance and a muscle bark. Here are a few interesting options.
1. Jumping on the soft part
- Turn the Bosu upside down and stand on it.
- Feet on the width of shoulders, put your hands on your waist.
- Do 10 jumps, rest and do two more approaches.
- If you want to complicate, try jumping with a turn of 90 or 180 degrees.
2. Zaprygivanie on Bosu with a turn
- Turn the Bosu upside down.
- Step away from Bosu in one or two steps.
- Zaprygnite on Bosu, in a leap turning back forward.
- Get off Bosu and repeat on the other side.
3. A bar with hands on Bosu and feet on a medbole
- Turn Bosu with a solid piece up, stand at the point of lying and put your hands on the edges of the platform.
- Put your feet on the medallion.
- Hold the position from 30 seconds to a minute.
4. Throwing the ball into the wall
- Place the Bosu next to the wall.
- Stand on the flat part of the Bosu, putting your feet on the edges of the platform, pick up a fitball, medball or a printed ball.
- Throw the ball in the wall in front of you and catch it, keeping balance.
- Do three sets of 10 times.
5. Pose of the warrior with the ball in his hands
- Tilt the body to a parallel with the floor and pull out your arms with a medallion over your head.
- When you have a balance, lift one leg and bring it to a parallel with the floor.
- The raised leg, body and hands with the ball represent one line.
- Hold the pose for 30 seconds.
More exercises with Bosu and the ball you can find here.
Exercises with the board for the development of equilibrium
The balanceboard is used by surfers to develop balance before going to the big wave. It is very simple and compact, perfectly picks up the sense of balance and does not bother: the process is delaying, it seems that you can catch on it the balance for an eternity.
The board costs about four thousand rubles, but you can easily do this with your own hands. For the board itself you will need a sheet of plywood, and the roller can be made of PVC or a metal pipe.
What to do with the board
First of all you need to learn to stand on it. At first you can use the support to stand on the balance board, and then learn to do it without support.
Get up smoothly, gradually transferring the weight of the body to the other leg, otherwise the roller may slip out from under the board (if you did not make the restraints) and you fall.
When you learn to get up on the balance board and freely roll the board from side to side, you can always learn to jump on the board, walk on it, turning sideways, or, for example, doing sit-ups.
That’s all. If you have your favorite exercises for developing balance, share in the comments.
