Our body is constantly adjusting and calibrating our natural balance without us realising, using a feedback loop where the inner ear, eyes, muscles, joints, and brain all communicate.
But is your body coasting? Could your balance be further optimised?
The answer is, almost always, yes – and the benefits that come with improved balance are worth the effort.
What Is Balance?
In biomechanical terms, balance is the ability to maintain a straight line of gravity for your body. This means your weight is evenly distributed within your base of support (ie. feet, crutches, chair, or other points of contact to the supporting surface) and allows you to stay steady and upright, with minimal postural sway (the horizontal movement of your centre of gravity).
The 2 Types Of Balance
Balance falls into two categories: static, and dynamic. To improve your body’s ability in each area, you can practice different poses and movements respectively.
Static Balance
Static balance is defined as the ability to balance while stationary, or still. When you picture someone practising balance by standing on one leg, for example, they are working on this type of stability.
Check if you can see a static balance challenge in the video below (hint: look for the white dot and green circle on-screen!)
Dynamic Balance
Dynamic balance is defined as the ability to transfer the projection of the centre of gravity around the base of support - basically, to maintain stability whilst your body is actively moving.
See how the family in this video are working on their dynamic balance by playing the fun tilt-games, like Snowboarding and Colour Tunnel, using the free Bobo app.
Why Is Balance Important?
Studies have even shown that you can rewire your brain in a totally different way by challenging your coordination, agility, and balance, compared to if you practice aerobic or strength exercises*. So, balance has the potential to improve not just physical but also cognitive function.
Should I Train My Balance?
Whilst the specific benefits vary from person to person, there are undeniable benefits to improving your sense of balance, no matter your individual condition. Everybody stands to gain something from balance-focused fitness training.
What Factors Affect A Person’s Balance?
Loss Of Muscle
It doesn’t matter how fit and how active a person is, none of us can escape the natural effects of aging, and loss of muscle mass in one such occurrence.
Decline In Sensory Capabilities
Degradation of senses such as vision, hearing, and changes in proprioception (the sense of awareness of position/where you are in space) and vestibular function (including inner ear and brain) increase the risk of injury through a fall.
Cognitive Decline
Research has shown that there is a link between poor balance, cognitive decline, and even small blood vessel disease in the brain.
Decreased Range Of Motion
Decreased joint and muscle flexibility is another consequence of aging although there are specific exercises you can do to remedy this.
Neurological Conditions
Conditions such as vestibular disorders, Parkinson’s, stroke, cerebral palsy, dementia, Meniere’s disease, vertigo, migraine, cardiovascular disease, hypotension, psychiatric disorders, and others can all leave the sufferer struggling to maintain balance.
Medications
It is not uncommon for medicines, for a variety of health conditions, to have side effects such as dizziness, light-headedness, and confusion.
What Are Some Benefits Of Better Balance?
Better Overall Wellbeing
Improving your balance has been shown to affect your overall health-related quality of life.
Enhanced Physical Function
Keep your body working at optimum levels, maximise your health potential, and live your life to the fullest.
Increased Athletic Performance
Training with a Bobo balance board is clinically proven to benefit many aspects of your fitness, including strength, balance, coordination, agility, focus, control, flexibility, endurance, and anticipation.
Reduced risk of falls and injuries
Improved coordination, strength, joint stability, and reaction time, means that if you slip or stumble you have a better chance of righting yourself, rather than falling.
Faster recovery times
Naturally, a strong body is going to recover or rehabilitate more quickly - and with our unique system, people find they are more motivated to workout, which helps them get back on their feet, or back in the game, in a fraction of the time!
What Is The Best Way To Improve Balance?
Traditional balance training can, unfortunately, be quite tedious or boring. Luckily, our team at NivaMD changed that when they created Bobo Home: the ultimate tool in balance-focused fitness training, to improve both static and dynamic skills.
Bobo is revolutionising the field of physiotherapy, and turning at-home exercise into a fun gaming experience that can be enjoyed by all ages and abilities.
Learn more about Bobo Home here.
*’Cardiovascular and Coordination Training Differentially Improve Cognitive Performance and Neural Processing in Older Adults’ by Claudia Voelcker-Rehage, Ben Godde, and Ursula M Staudinger (2011) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062100/
