There are many things within our bodies and minds that we take for granted. For instance, we take the ability to breathe for granted every day – it’s something we do without thinking, and as a result, we’re not grateful. Never mind the fact that we can breathe that keeps us alive!
You could argue that the same goes for being able to get up out of bed every morning. When something happens to take that away from you, you start to realize just how important the function of moving is.
With balance, it is the same.
We assume that being able to balance is just a skill we have, something that’s there, and for some people, it’s something that isn’t very good. Some of us take pride in how well we can balance. But for most people, it’s just something we don’t pay much attention to for most of us.
However, focusing on your balance is vital if you want to ensure that you are healthier and more stable as you grow older, into your twilight years.
Why Is Balance Important?
Balance ensures that we stay upright. You have a far greater chance of falling and injuring yourself if you have a low balance. In your younger years, this may cause a slight bump or sprain, but as you get older and perhaps as your bone density or muscle mass decreases, your chances of suffering a severe injury as a result of a fall increase by a considerable amount.
Besides, if you’re overcoming surgery, you will need balance to help you coordinate your movements and ensure you regain your overall range of motion to the point it was before. Even professional athletes need to regularly work on their balance to ensure that their endurance remains high and that they can move in the direction they want to move in, with stability and precision.
So, as you can, balance isn’t just about being able to walk in a straight line; it’s about increasing performance, ensuring good health, and preventing against nasty injuries as a result of falls. Many studies have shown that you have a far lower chance of suffering frequent falls in your later years by increasing your balance.
So, with that in mind, how exactly can you improve your balance?
How to Improve Your Balance
Balance improvement comes down to practice and using specific at-home exercise routines that strengthen your muscles and increase your general balance levels. You can do this yourself, but using a balance board is a perfect option.
In particular, medical practitioners often use smart balance boards these days, and you can purchase them online from retailers such as Bobo Balance. These boards record your progress, which can be downloaded and reviewed by your doctor, therefore tracking your progress and giving you extra exercises in different ways to boost your balance when and wherever you need it.
Do You Need a Fitness Balancing Board?
Training becomes far more manageable when you have a tool to use, and that’s what a balance board acts as. You stand on the board and follow your prescribed exercises; you can do this either from your doctor’s advice. You can also use online videos or the videos which come with your balance board, following the instructions interactively on the TV while using the board at the same time.
The board should be placed on a flat, secure surface to ensure it doesn’t slip while you’re using it, but the board itself isn’t flat. That is how you can improve your balance. Through using a board, such as the BoBo smart balance board, which isn’t straight but mounted on a raised section, you’ll need to focus on your core to prevent moving in all directions. You then also use your core muscles and your general balance skills to stay upright and to move in the direction your video or exercise regime tells you.
Aside from anything else, using a balance board is also good fun. You can encourage your loved ones to try improving their balance simply because using a board isn’t dull; this gives you and them a far better chance of improving their balance and avoiding falls, which could lead to damaging injuries in the long-term.
We know that for the elderly, trips and falls are a huge risk. The number of hip replacements resulting from falls rises each year, and with the current Covid-19 pandemic we are all living through, falling and injuring yourself in such a way is not something you want to open yourself up to, on top of everything else. So, with that in mind, focusing your mind on balance improvement certainly seems like the way to go.
