I have been selected as a premiere fitness expert at yourhealthupdates.com The following article has made the most popular article list for that site. Below, I provide the article again with follow-along-video demonstrations. Thank You & Enjoy! ~Alicia Weber

One may ask, what is balance training and what are the benefits?

It can benefit a person in so many ways and it starts with the spinal cord.

The spinal cord is involved with voluntary and involuntary movement where information is carried up and down the spine by bundles of fibers in the central nervous system (CNS) where sensory and motor information signal a movement. The goal would be to build a faster reaction with technical movements. First, try dribbling a basketball and notice how little concentration is invloved. Now, try dribbling a Reaction Ball – WOW, what a difference! Concentration and level of difficulty is 10 fold and one can feel the impulses to react!

Try the Following Reaction Ball Drill

This is just the beginning of the effects of balance training…

Proprioception is the ongoing awareness of body position or joint position and it is regulated by sensory organs (i.e. eyes, ears, and specialized receptors in tendons, joints, and muscles). Proprioception gets challenged in balance training too! The visual sense gives pertinent data about external stimuli and are extremely important in skilled performances. Try a simple “eyes shut” exercise, while standing on one foot to see how your propioception is challenged in balance training. Sometimes you may feel like you want to wave your hands around to maintain equilibrium. This signals coordination involvement in balance.

Try Some Beginner to Intermediate Bodyweight Eyes Shut Drills

Coordination involves an involuntary response that results in specific motor response with that response being dependent on the type and duration of the stimulus received. So in everyday activities coordination is rarely challenged. However, try to balance on 1 foot – turn one arm clockwise, the other arm counter-clockwise, and the other leg clockwise then counter clockwise. Now, we are talking about coordination! The results of working on that exercise over time will be building stronger somatic reflexes (reflexes involving skeletal muscle contraction).

Try Some Multiple Movements in Different Directions to Advance One’s Coordination

Balance training is challenging body equilibrium and teaching nervous and sensory receptor systems to perform highly skilled movement patterns.

How can balance training help the elderly?

As I trained patients with high-level neuromuscular and neurological conditions, the best results came from combining “eyes shut” exercises with coordination exercises all while doing a light aerobic activity. Results and graduation to a new fitness level were achieved in 4-weeks. Aerobic activity alone produced no results and coordination drills with eyes open only produced minor results. So to get the most out of balance try an array of activities such as the examples above.

How can balance help kids and adults?

When in good health, a person wouldn’t even recognize their nervous system and muscles executing a simple movement, but when there is a problem their nerves and muscles can become impaired. People can easily begin reaping rewards from balance training and apply them to sports like tennis and basketball. Balance training also strengthens muscle stabilizers, so if you are apt to get ankle sprains – then regular balance training can fix that problem!

Do you have weak ankles or have trouble balancing on 1 foot? If so, you can work on turning the weakness into a strength with the video below.

Here is an easy 2-minute exercise to strengthen muscle stabilizers in your feet to improve your balance and stability.

Watch my client master a very difficult balance exercise that also works the core and quads!

Contact Alicia Weber for online personal training or in-person training in Central Florida at Awinningway@gmail.com