Balance Strength

We’re back with another balance training video today. This one is a carryover from a video we did previously where we’re using a weight for some kind of unilateral loading. Now, the way we’re going to do this one, this is all going to be single-leg stance work. So, if you are not comfortable standing on one foot with your eyes open and with your eyes closed, this may not be the best drill for you to begin with. Go back to some of the previous videos. But this is a very, very simple exercise and simple drill, but it vastly escalates the intensity of challenge both for your muscular system and also your balance system, which requires your eyes, your inner ear, and your proprioceptive system to integrate well.

So it’s done this way: we’re going to start off with a weight in one hand. If you watched the previous video, remember you need to work your way up in weight. This is a 16 kilo Bell. I recommend that you start with a 2 or 3 pounds or a 5-pound dumbbell just to get comfortable with how your body responds to unilateral loading.

Now, the way that I normally teach this is, I say, I want you to load the side that you’re going to stand on. So right now, I’m standing on my right leg.

So I’m going to hold the weight in my right hand. I’m going to get nice and tall and I’m going to go to a single leg stance. We’ll stay here for 30 seconds.

I’m not going to do that on the video because that’s going to get a little bit boring. After we’ve done that, make sure that you’re nice and stable. So you may need to touch down. You’re now going to go into a different head position.

So, now turn your head to the left. Make sure that you’re stable and go to another, you know, 30-second hold would be ideal, although that may get fatiguing,so you can start off with five.

From there you’ll go into a right turn and you’ll progressively work your way from left turn, right turn, looking up at the ceiling, down at the floor, right tilt and left tilt. That’s going to be progression one.

Now from here, you would then switch to your opposite side and you would repeat those same exercises.

This is all being done, eyes open. Now our next drill, after we’ve gone through that, and you may not want to do this all at the same time, this time we’re going to be switching the weight from side to side. This is much more challenging than it sounds. So, again, I start, I’m right now I’m on my left leg holding in my left hand. Get comfortable, make sure that you’re nice and secure, then just switch the weight to the opposite side, and you’re going to want to do this slowly because you’re going to notice a lot of challenges to your balance.

As you make this switch occur, I really recommend in the beginning as you start doing these switches, that you may even want to look down and watch the bell or weight pass in front of you, moving super, super slowly so that you can catch your balance. The faster you move, the more dynamic it’s going to become and you may find yourself having to work harder in order to maintain balance.

That’s a great progression. You just want to make sure that you’re doing this easily and safely as you work your way up in weight.

All right, so give this one a try, see what you think.