Balance Begins At Your Base

The average adult takes 5,000- 8,000 steps a day.

With each of these steps, there is a moment in time when you are balancing on one leg. 

It is our ability to stand on one leg that allows us to walk, go up or down stairs and to run.

Given how important balancing on one leg is,

how often do you train your single leg stability?

Standing on one leg is a complex orchestration of anatomy, physics and neurological finesse.    You can think of it like a skill – a skill that is to be trained, strengthened and perfected through daily practice.   

This blog reviews how all balance exercises should begin with your base!

Movement and Knowledge Matters

Two recent studies have highlighted the potential benefits for women of strength training one that reveals how resistance training can stave off age-related conditions like sarcopenia and bone loss and a second study that links stronger muscles to a longer life.

Fitness in Older Women (45–80 Years): A Systematic Review (2010–2020)

A meta-analysis of 38 studies found that resistance training interventions lasting more than 8 weeks and utilizing multiple sets, exercises, and repetitions were effective at increasing muscle mass, muscle strength, and functional fitness among older women.

Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

A meta-analysis associated muscle-strengthening activities with a 10–17% lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Participants obtained maximum risk reduction for these outcomes at 30 to 60 minutes per week of muscle-strengthening activities.

Push-Ups

The push-up is considered by many to be the cornerstone of basic body-weight strength training. Even though this movement is well known and simple to perform, it is also difficult to complete with correct mechanics and full range of motion.

You may think you can’t do push-ups or that push-ups are too difficult, or you may think it is “too simple” or “too easy” but regardless of your level of fitness, this movement can provide value and can be modified to provide a challenge for any level.

Master the foundational mechanics

The Versatility of the Pilates push-up