April 2, 2023 • 14 mins
Balance is not a frequently sought after facet of fitness. Yet we use it all the time and when lost, we can be embarrassed or far, far worse. So why do we pay it no mind until we find that it has left us as the years pass? Because we don't need "balance exercises" if we're already doing appropriate, commonly used fitness practices. Tune in and learn more.
Show Notes:
12:48 - Increase in femoral bone density in young women following high-impact exercise - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01623226
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
welcome to Primedy where we find simple techniques to help address modern problems for our primitive
bodies my name is Andrew Pafford and I'm a health and wellness professional with over
a decade of experience helping Olympic level athletes desk jockeys and seniors achieving
their goals and improving their quality of life balance is something that we take for granted
in our lives until we lose it whether it's a momentary loss of balance that leads to an injury
(00:25):
or in our Advanced years we become increasingly aware of our diminished abilities and it leads
to a daily apprehension affecting our quality of life for a long time balance training has
been a nerve game increasing awareness of yourself in space known as proprioception
training or retraining feedback loops to hopefully enhance reflexes and that's about it but is that
(00:50):
all that goes into maintaining balance today we'll elaborate on many other components that
we take for granted in maintaining balance and how we can incorporate them into our training
for starters I don't want to knock any established balance training protocols
that are currently being deployed standing on foam pads bosu balls or even just getting time
(01:12):
standing on one leg is indeed critical for training the nervous Pathways of the body
your body has nerve receptors throughout it called proprioceptors which indeed help keep
a bit of subconscious inventory of where your body exists in space if you were to stand say
on two pool rafts floating in water and they begin to slowly float away your proprioceptors
(01:37):
would notify you that your ground is beginning to shift there's no change in temperature pressure
or pain so those nervous pathways are not activated however your proprioceptors would
begin providing input that something was amiss and you were moving at which point you would probably
want to do something about it to avoid falling into the pool in a real world application your
(01:58):
proprioceptors can sense even more minute movements than your legs drifting apart
the proprioceptors in your ankles for example are a main point of focus in balance training when
your balance shifts the ankle begins to change position the body feels this and reflexively
activates the appropriate musculature to try and get the foot back to a balanced position
(02:24):
anyone can play this game by standing on one leg and having a firm structure to grab onto if
necessary please don't get hurt and watching your foot while you balance on one leg look
at that bad boy go even if you have quote great balance you will see that foot shift and twitch
to maintain your center of balance quite quickly and consistently further become aware of how you
(02:49):
are not consciously telling the musculature in your foot or leg to be firing the way that it is
it is doing it automatically these are reflex loops the proprioceptors that detect the
change in Balance are sending their input to the spinal cord which in turn bypasses the brain and
(03:10):
immediately sends commands back to the appropriate muscles necessary by eliminating that extra step
and distance of having to travel of sending the signal to travel to our brains and back
we are able to decrease our reaction time and thus better maintain balance children
are Masters at training their reflex Loops they have an insane amount of patience determination
(03:33):
for Minds so immature they're basically made of rubber and aren't very tall so if they fall
it doesn't hurt that bad and it isn't that scary so they don't have much to lose if they fail but
through trial and error we are able to establish these reflex Loops until we find a winning combo
that's how children go from looking like stumbling potato sacks with stilts to fearlessly throwing
(03:56):
themselves from couch cushion to couch cushion like mine tend to do apply that same token if we
injure ourselves and the proprioceptors become damaged say from a rolled or sprained ankle
our current proprioceptors get damaged and torn negatively affecting our ability to detect motion
shifts and thus hampering our reflex loops we have to retrain those Pathways just like
(04:20):
children do with trial and error except of course we're much taller way more and with more at stake
if we fail in this manner balance training is crucial to begin retraining Those sensors so we
can keep our reflex Loop times Snappy and crisp so if we have good reflex time then all is well
and if that seems like a silly statement you're correct so then why does most
(04:45):
traditional balance training only focus on the quote balancing component rather the piece
that helps train and stimulate proprioception let's begin by painting what I would argue is
a pretty fair picture of what is what it's actually like to balance in the real world
and that is we all lose our balance a good deal of time we're human we get distracted we don't pay
(05:11):
attention to our surrounding and sometimes we lose our balance we step on a toy we slip off of a curb
or step that we weren't looking at we turn quickly and our foot catches on the other shoe slash foot
or a rock or stone or crooked sidewalk so why aren't we all getting hurt on a consistent basis
because our balance recovery is quite good our proprioceptors are good at detecting shifts in
(05:36):
balance and great at making us painfully aware when we're on our way down at that point a
handful of other Fitness factors come into play that can mean the difference between a graceful
recovery and kissing the pavement first let's talk about flexibility if you were to stand up straight
(05:57):
and without shifting your balance lift one leg off the ground suddenly you at this point would
begin to Free Fall to one side let's say if I lifted my left leg I would fall to the left
upon realizing courtesy of proprioception you would instinctively take that free leg and reach
out to catch yourself and huzzah disaster avoided reaching out and catching yourself however is the
(06:23):
component that we take for granted what were the Myriad of properties we needed to possess
to perform that feat as mundane as it sounds that movement might be quite challenging for those much
farther along in Life or those with a pre-existing condition if I were to list to the left and fall
to the side as in that example my left leg would be doing the catching but what about the right
(06:48):
by right groin would be stretched as that right leg would have remained planted and
thus Left Behind as my torso and the rest of my body were to fall and be displaced to the left
the later I had responded to the balance shift the farther out I would have had
to reach to catch myself and thus the greater the stretch on my right groin
(07:10):
when reflexes diminish reaction times increase meaning it takes you longer to react
I would need more flexibility in order to overcome that scenario unscathed
the greater range of motion I have at my disposal the more room I have to recover my balance
(07:32):
secondly let's talk about strength this is and flexibility are why I seldom work on balance
training in that exact same scenario while falling to the left leg while falling to the left the left
leg must shoot out to catch the body and stop the fall I a need the strength to be able to lift my
(07:55):
leg and move it quickly which requires power and you can't be powerful if you're not strong
but then once in place I then B need the strength to stop my body from falling
if you're an individual who struggles to perform a standard two-legged squat to parallel how are
you going to catch yourself falling with speed on one leg that requires strength the beauty of
(08:23):
strengths training is that there are a myriad of exercises to help increase strength in the lower
quarter but even better a good many of them are already single-legged or asymmetrical movements
lunges rear foot elevated split squats single legged rdls side lunges the list goes on
but what's wonderful is that by performing these motions you're
(08:46):
not only training the muscles but you're also inherently training the proprioception
for someone who may not have great balance lunging next to a couch or table for balance if necessary
is working the proprioceptors and challenging the musculature necessary in performing a
balance recovery maneuver further many of these motions require respectable Mobility
(09:11):
trying to perform a lunge but you're groin or hip flexors feel tight I can quickly tell
you who is going to get in the way should you need to rise to the occasion for a balance save
addressing those muscles with Mobility work to enable the execution of the lunge has just doubled
as also giving yourself more room for balance recovery not to mention reducing the chances of
(09:33):
pulling a muscle during your time of need it's for these reasons why I very quickly try to graduate
from standing on one leg or standing on a foam pad to actual strength exercises the benefits from
those traditional balance exercises are typically included in many well-established established
(09:55):
strength training movements you just need to start conservatively and scale appropriately
finally I have one more line of training that is not for the faint of heart however can be
a Hail Mary in Balance recovery and that is break Falls break Falls as the name implies is actually
(10:16):
cutting your losses and allowing yourself to fall but doing it in such a way that minimizes injury
you'll likely get bruised or scraped but if done correctly you can avoid broken bones or worse
my wonderful case study for this I went jogging with my wife one day we moved to a new apartment
in our younger years and decided to go for a run to get the lay of the land at one point I
(10:41):
was looking at her and conversing when suddenly something grabbed at my trail foot and would not
let go my forefoot was bearing my weight making it stuck and my momentum was carrying me forward
well beyond both of my legs setting me up to fall like big tree I didn't have time to choose
(11:01):
my reflexes from gymnastics and martial arts took over I tucked my chin lowered my shoulder
and dropped into a somersault while it may not have looked completely graceful I certainly felt
pretty ninja rolling back to my feet with the same momentum that almost caused me my teeth
so what happened a slab of sidewalk was cocked up about two inches and I happened to land just in
(11:25):
front of it with my foot as I was proceeding through my gate and tried to lift my foot
my toe stubbed immediately into that wall of concrete that kept me from pulling my foot back
or slipping over the top by somersaulting I was able to absorb the shock across my back and rib
cage which are far more durable and resilient than my poor wrist chin or elbow all I had to
(11:48):
show for it was a minor abrasion on the back of my shoulder and not else immediately thereafter shook
it off looked at my wife and said I'm good let's keep going and so we went back to living Our Lives
moral of the story as humans we cannot be perfect one day you will lose your balance and and when
(12:10):
you do what will you do this question I make the argument that you need to be good at falling
break Falls are commonly taught in MMA and other martial arts Styles I've heard a couple variances
on the expression but ultimately eighty percent of fights go to the ground of course I've also heard
about 57 of all statistics are made up so take that with a grain of salt but I think it's fair to
(12:33):
state that those who are practiced at falling are better practiced at falling without getting hurt
this reason break Falls are quite commonly taught in the martial arts incidentally break Falls
helped build strength introducing shock forces can stimulate bone growth and increase bone density
and require core work and full body utilization which makes them fantastic Fitness tools and
(12:59):
exercises as well this last approach certainly requires appropriate facilities and experienced
instructors without the appropriate equipment to practice on mistakes couldn't be costly it
will also take time and courage and lots of repetition to train those feedback loops as
you may not have the time to choose to do a break fall whether it needs to be deployed the moment
(13:24):
it happens nevertheless I would argue it is an invaluable tool to have in your toolkit that can
mean the difference of a scratched arm slash hip to being hospitalized requiring surgery or worse
all right quick recap for the day typically balance training incorporates proprioceptive
training which is a critical component in balance but traditionally it's usually stops there
(13:49):
two people aren't perfect so you will lose your balance the real question is can you cover it
three flexibility gives you more room to recover and can reduce the likelihood of pulling a
muscle during a balance recovery maneuver four strength training is an essential component in
Balance recovery and many movements even have proprioceptive work baked in why not kill two
(14:15):
birds with one stone and use strength training instead of traditional for perceptive training
finally five break Falls can be your last line of defense in mitigating a fall but require
appropriate facilities and supervision an MMA or martial arts facility might be your best bet
that wraps up today's talk on balance training we're always curious to hear what you're curious
(14:38):
about so shoot us your suggestions comments and queries to info primedy.org and as always
strength comes in many forms from within and without so be strong to be useful take care
welcome to Primedy where we find simple techniques to help address modern problems for our primitive
bodies my name is Andrew Pafford and I'm a health and wellness professional with over
a decade of experience helping Olympic level athletes desk jockeys and seniors achieving
their goals and improving their quality of life balance is something that we take for granted
in our lives until we lose it whether it's a momentary loss of balance that leads to an injury
(00:25):
or in our Advanced years we become increasingly aware of our diminished abilities and it leads
to a daily apprehension affecting our quality of life for a long time balance training has
been a nerve game increasing awareness of yourself in space known as proprioception
training or retraining feedback loops to hopefully enhance reflexes and that's about it but is that
(00:50):
all that goes into maintaining balance today we'll elaborate on many other components that
we take for granted in maintaining balance and how we can incorporate them into our training
for starters I don't want to knock any established balance training protocols
that are currently being deployed standing on foam pads bosu balls or even just getting time
(01:12):
standing on one leg is indeed critical for training the nervous Pathways of the body
your body has nerve receptors throughout it called proprioceptors which indeed help keep
a bit of subconscious inventory of where your body exists in space if you were to stand say
on two pool rafts floating in water and they begin to slowly float away your proprioceptors
(01:37):
would notify you that your ground is beginning to shift there's no change in temperature pressure
or pain so those nervous pathways are not activated however your proprioceptors would
begin providing input that something was amiss and you were moving at which point you would probably
want to do something about it to avoid falling into the pool in a real world application your
(01:58):
proprioceptors can sense even more minute movements than your legs drifting apart
the proprioceptors in your ankles for example are a main point of focus in balance training when
your balance shifts the ankle begins to change position the body feels this and reflexively
activates the appropriate musculature to try and get the foot back to a balanced position
(02:24):
anyone can play this game by standing on one leg and having a firm structure to grab onto if
necessary please don't get hurt and watching your foot while you balance on one leg look
at that bad boy go even if you have quote great balance you will see that foot shift and twitch
to maintain your center of balance quite quickly and consistently further become aware of how you
(02:49):
are not consciously telling the musculature in your foot or leg to be firing the way that it is
it is doing it automatically these are reflex loops the proprioceptors that detect the
change in Balance are sending their input to the spinal cord which in turn bypasses the brain and
(03:10):
immediately sends commands back to the appropriate muscles necessary by eliminating that extra step
and distance of having to travel of sending the signal to travel to our brains and back
we are able to decrease our reaction time and thus better maintain balance children
are Masters at training their reflex Loops they have an insane amount of patience determination
(03:33):
for Minds so immature they're basically made of rubber and aren't very tall so if they fall
it doesn't hurt that bad and it isn't that scary so they don't have much to lose if they fail but
through trial and error we are able to establish these reflex Loops until we find a winning combo
that's how children go from looking like stumbling potato sacks with stilts to fearlessly throwing
(03:56):
themselves from couch cushion to couch cushion like mine tend to do apply that same token if we
injure ourselves and the proprioceptors become damaged say from a rolled or sprained ankle
our current proprioceptors get damaged and torn negatively affecting our ability to detect motion
shifts and thus hampering our reflex loops we have to retrain those Pathways just like
(04:20):
children do with trial and error except of course we're much taller way more and with more at stake
if we fail in this manner balance training is crucial to begin retraining Those sensors so we
can keep our reflex Loop times Snappy and crisp so if we have good reflex time then all is well
and if that seems like a silly statement you're correct so then why does most
(04:45):
traditional balance training only focus on the quote balancing component rather the piece
that helps train and stimulate proprioception let's begin by painting what I would argue is
a pretty fair picture of what is what it's actually like to balance in the real world
and that is we all lose our balance a good deal of time we're human we get distracted we don't pay
(05:11):
attention to our surrounding and sometimes we lose our balance we step on a toy we slip off of a curb
or step that we weren't looking at we turn quickly and our foot catches on the other shoe slash foot
or a rock or stone or crooked sidewalk so why aren't we all getting hurt on a consistent basis
because our balance recovery is quite good our proprioceptors are good at detecting shifts in
(05:36):
balance and great at making us painfully aware when we're on our way down at that point a
handful of other Fitness factors come into play that can mean the difference between a graceful
recovery and kissing the pavement first let's talk about flexibility if you were to stand up straight
(05:57):
and without shifting your balance lift one leg off the ground suddenly you at this point would
begin to Free Fall to one side let's say if I lifted my left leg I would fall to the left
upon realizing courtesy of proprioception you would instinctively take that free leg and reach
out to catch yourself and huzzah disaster avoided reaching out and catching yourself however is the
(06:23):
component that we take for granted what were the Myriad of properties we needed to possess
to perform that feat as mundane as it sounds that movement might be quite challenging for those much
farther along in Life or those with a pre-existing condition if I were to list to the left and fall
to the side as in that example my left leg would be doing the catching but what about the right
(06:48):
by right groin would be stretched as that right leg would have remained planted and
thus Left Behind as my torso and the rest of my body were to fall and be displaced to the left
the later I had responded to the balance shift the farther out I would have had
to reach to catch myself and thus the greater the stretch on my right groin
(07:10):
when reflexes diminish reaction times increase meaning it takes you longer to react
I would need more flexibility in order to overcome that scenario unscathed
the greater range of motion I have at my disposal the more room I have to recover my balance
(07:32):
secondly let's talk about strength this is and flexibility are why I seldom work on balance
training in that exact same scenario while falling to the left leg while falling to the left the left
leg must shoot out to catch the body and stop the fall I a need the strength to be able to lift my
(07:55):
leg and move it quickly which requires power and you can't be powerful if you're not strong
but then once in place I then B need the strength to stop my body from falling
if you're an individual who struggles to perform a standard two-legged squat to parallel how are
you going to catch yourself falling with speed on one leg that requires strength the beauty of
(08:23):
strengths training is that there are a myriad of exercises to help increase strength in the lower
quarter but even better a good many of them are already single-legged or asymmetrical movements
lunges rear foot elevated split squats single legged rdls side lunges the list goes on
but what's wonderful is that by performing these motions you're
(08:46):
not only training the muscles but you're also inherently training the proprioception
for someone who may not have great balance lunging next to a couch or table for balance if necessary
is working the proprioceptors and challenging the musculature necessary in performing a
balance recovery maneuver further many of these motions require respectable Mobility
(09:11):
trying to perform a lunge but you're groin or hip flexors feel tight I can quickly tell
you who is going to get in the way should you need to rise to the occasion for a balance save
addressing those muscles with Mobility work to enable the execution of the lunge has just doubled
as also giving yourself more room for balance recovery not to mention reducing the chances of
(09:33):
pulling a muscle during your time of need it's for these reasons why I very quickly try to graduate
from standing on one leg or standing on a foam pad to actual strength exercises the benefits from
those traditional balance exercises are typically included in many well-established established
(09:55):
strength training movements you just need to start conservatively and scale appropriately
finally I have one more line of training that is not for the faint of heart however can be
a Hail Mary in Balance recovery and that is break Falls break Falls as the name implies is actually
(10:16):
cutting your losses and allowing yourself to fall but doing it in such a way that minimizes injury
you'll likely get bruised or scraped but if done correctly you can avoid broken bones or worse
my wonderful case study for this I went jogging with my wife one day we moved to a new apartment
in our younger years and decided to go for a run to get the lay of the land at one point I
(10:41):
was looking at her and conversing when suddenly something grabbed at my trail foot and would not
let go my forefoot was bearing my weight making it stuck and my momentum was carrying me forward
well beyond both of my legs setting me up to fall like big tree I didn't have time to choose
(11:01):
my reflexes from gymnastics and martial arts took over I tucked my chin lowered my shoulder
and dropped into a somersault while it may not have looked completely graceful I certainly felt
pretty ninja rolling back to my feet with the same momentum that almost caused me my teeth
so what happened a slab of sidewalk was cocked up about two inches and I happened to land just in
(11:25):
front of it with my foot as I was proceeding through my gate and tried to lift my foot
my toe stubbed immediately into that wall of concrete that kept me from pulling my foot back
or slipping over the top by somersaulting I was able to absorb the shock across my back and rib
cage which are far more durable and resilient than my poor wrist chin or elbow all I had to
(11:48):
show for it was a minor abrasion on the back of my shoulder and not else immediately thereafter shook
it off looked at my wife and said I'm good let's keep going and so we went back to living Our Lives
moral of the story as humans we cannot be perfect one day you will lose your balance and and when
(12:10):
you do what will you do this question I make the argument that you need to be good at falling
break Falls are commonly taught in MMA and other martial arts Styles I've heard a couple variances
on the expression but ultimately eighty percent of fights go to the ground of course I've also heard
about 57 of all statistics are made up so take that with a grain of salt but I think it's fair to
(12:33):
state that those who are practiced at falling are better practiced at falling without getting hurt
this reason break Falls are quite commonly taught in the martial arts incidentally break Falls
helped build strength introducing shock forces can stimulate bone growth and increase bone density
and require core work and full body utilization which makes them fantastic Fitness tools and
(12:59):
exercises as well this last approach certainly requires appropriate facilities and experienced
instructors without the appropriate equipment to practice on mistakes couldn't be costly it
will also take time and courage and lots of repetition to train those feedback loops as
you may not have the time to choose to do a break fall whether it needs to be deployed the moment
(13:24):
it happens nevertheless I would argue it is an invaluable tool to have in your toolkit that can
mean the difference of a scratched arm slash hip to being hospitalized requiring surgery or worse
all right quick recap for the day typically balance training incorporates proprioceptive
training which is a critical component in balance but traditionally it's usually stops there
(13:49):
two people aren't perfect so you will lose your balance the real question is can you cover it
three flexibility gives you more room to recover and can reduce the likelihood of pulling a
muscle during a balance recovery maneuver four strength training is an essential component in
Balance recovery and many movements even have proprioceptive work baked in why not kill two
(14:15):
birds with one stone and use strength training instead of traditional for perceptive training
finally five break Falls can be your last line of defense in mitigating a fall but require
appropriate facilities and supervision an MMA or martial arts facility might be your best bet
that wraps up today's talk on balance training we're always curious to hear what you're curious
(14:38):
about so shoot us your suggestions comments and queries to info primedy.org and as always
strength comes in many forms from within and without so be strong to be useful take care
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