To boost your fitness and functional strength in general, try a balanced workout that emphasizes stabilization and core strength. You may improve your proprioception (your body’s knowledge of its position in space) through balance activities, which also strengthen your muscles and core. Better stability and strength in the core can help you stand taller, avoid injuries, and excel at a wide range of sports and workouts.
It is important to define balance. The ability to control your body in an upright position, whether stationary or moving, as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal, is a good starting point.
Personal trainer Sivan Fagan, CPT, owner of Strong with Sivan, tells SELF that having good balance is about being solid, coordinated, and aware of one’s body in space. And it helps you keep your balance and decreases your chances of getting hurt, no matter what you’re doing.
According to Fagan, many people have trouble maintaining their equilibrium because they don’t perform enough single-sided exercises. These include lunges, single-leg deadlifts, and skaters, all of which require you to put most of your weight on one leg at a time. Unilateral exercises, in contrast to bilateral ones like squats and deadlifts, are excellent choices for training your balance because they inherently present greater difficulty in maintaining stability. After all, it’s considerably more difficult to maintain balance with only one foot on the ground than with two.
Furthermore, unilateral movements are highly practical because they directly translate to many commonplace activities that require balance, such as walking and navigating stairs. Since “we have to be able to stabilize our body with one less contact point on the floor,” as Fagan puts it, you’ll need to practice working on one hand exclusively if you want to be successful in many areas of life.
Unilateral exercises benefit balance training for another reason: they strengthen the core. Your abdominal muscles play a significant role in maintaining your equilibrium and preventing you from falling over on one side or the other.
The workout
Your own weight is all that’s required. Yoga mats are optional but recommended.
Exercise
- Combat Stability
- Forward-to-Backward Lunge
- Skater Jump
- Pank Tap
- Toe Touch
Directions
Follow the rep ranges and rest as necessary between sets to ensure proper form during each exercise.
When you have finished all five exercises, take a little break if necessary, and then continue the circuit another two or three times.
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Combat stability
Balance on your left foot while raising your right knee to hip height in front of you.
Put your hands behind your back by bending your elbows. To begin, let’s assume this setting.
Extend your right leg behind you while bending forward at the hips and reaching forward with your arms. Maintain a slight bend in your standing leg as you lower your torso to a parallel position with the floor.
Put the movement on hold while you catch your breath, and then reverse it to get back to where you started.
One repetition. Perform a set of 10–12 reps on one side before switching.
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Forward-to-backward lunge
Raise your right foot off the ground, move it forward two steps, and then place it firmly on the ground. Bring your right thigh and left shin nearly parallel to the floor by bending both knees. Your back should be flat, not arched or rounded, so bend your torso forward somewhat. Maintain a straight back with your buttocks and core engaged and your right knee over your right foot.
To go back to the first position, drive off the ball of your right foot.
Take a 2-foot backstep with your right foot, landing softly on the ball of your foot. Bring your left thigh and shin nearly parallel to the floor by bending both knees. Your back should be flat, not arched or rounded, so bend your torso forward somewhat. Your buttocks and core should be engaged, and your left knee should be higher than your left foot.
To get back to the starting position, drive off the ball on your left foot. One repetition.
Perform 10–12 reps. Turn around and do it again.
3. Skater jump
Keep your feet hip-width apart when you’re standing.
The correct technique for a long jump to the right is to bend your knees slightly, then lead with your right foot and swing your left leg just behind your right. To increase the distance of your jump, try sweeping your arms across your torso.
Balance briefly on your right foot while bending your right knee.
Land on your left foot after a backward jump to the left. The farther and faster you can jump while maintaining your equilibrium, the better. One repetition.
Perform 10–12 reps.
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Pank tap
Put your palms flat on the floor, your shoulders directly over your wrists, your legs extended behind you, and your core and glutes engaged in a high plank position.
Keep your hips from moving side to side by tapping your right hand on your left shoulder and activating your core and glutes.
Move your left hand to your right shoulder in the same way. One repetition.
Six to ten reps on each side should be done.
Try spreading your legs more apart to facilitate this.
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Toes touch stars
Put your palms flat on the floor, your shoulders directly over your wrists, your legs extended behind you, and your core and glutes engaged in a high plank position.
Keep your hips from moving side to side by tapping your right hand on your left shoulder and activating your core and glutes.
Move your left hand to your right shoulder in the same way. One repetition.
Six to ten reps on each side should be done.
Try spreading your legs more apart to facilitate this.