EXERCISE 1: Single-Leg Stance
Close Your Eyes. Closing your eyes
during certain exercises can improve
your proprioception, which in turn
can help prevent injury by increasing
your agility and reaction times. By
shutting off your sense of sight, you
force your neuromuscular system to
do all the reacting. Closing your eyes
works best when you’re performing
the most basic of exercises. Cressey
suggests you start by closing one
eye while you stand still with both
feet on the ground, then progress
to standing with both eyes closed,
standing on one foot with one eye
closed, and finally standing on one
foot with both eyes closed.
If you’re coming back from an
ankle sprain, don’t toss your wobble
board out just yet (it’s also useful
for upper-body exercises!). But if
you want to improve your functional
training for steady-ground endeavors, Cressey says, stable-surface
training is the way to go. Plus, it’s
easy and doesn’t require any special
equipment to get started. Add the
following three exercises to your fitness routine and you’ll start seeing
balance gains in no time. ;
WHAT IT DOES: Single-leg moves are a great entry-level way to challenge your stability. You’re forced
to recruit often-neglected muscles to keep yourself
upright, and you’re also strengthening the major
muscle groups in your lower body.
HOW TO: Start simply by standing on one leg for
several seconds. Hold on to the back of a chair with
both hands for added stability and slowly lift your
leg off the ground, bending at the knee. Once you
can maintain your balance for at least 15 seconds,
return to your starting position and repeat, lifting
the other leg.
As your balance improves, hold on to the chair with
only one hand, then no hands, then finally with
your hands above your head. The tree pose in yoga
is a good exercise — first against a wall, then stand-
ing free with hands at the “heart center,” and then
with hands apart and overhead (pictured on page
24), which raises your center of gravity even more.
EXERCISE 2: Step-Ups
Frequent contributor Gina DeMillo Wagner finds
balance by hiking the trails near her Boulder,
Colo., home.
WHAT IT DOES: If you only perform bilateral exercises (exercises that use both legs at the same time),
at some point you’ll develop an imbalance in your
legs, says Eric Cressey, MS, CSCS, founder of Cressey
Performance training center in Boston. Doing simple
unilateral work like step-ups ensures that each leg
is equally developed in strength and size, which
increases your power and helps prevent injury.
HOW TO: Start with a 5-pound dumbbell in each hand
and one foot up on an 18- to 24-inch-tall box (or use
a weightlifting bench). Slightly lift the toes of both
feet to prevent you from using just your quadriceps.
Place the brunt of your weight on the “up” heel, then
squeeze the glutes and step up so your opposite foot
rests on the box, too. Lower yourself under control
until you’re back to the start position and repeat
with the other leg. Do 10 reps per leg, and bump up
the weight if you don’t feel challenged.
EXERCISE 3: One-Hand Overhead Squat
WHAT IT DOES: This move raises your center of
gravity and gives you an uneven load — these
are two means of challenging your stability. As a
result, you’ll activate important spinal stabilizers
and improve your balance. Use a dumbbell to make
yourself more top-heavy and further raise your
center of gravity.
HOW TO: Hold the weight in your right hand and
extend your right arm straight above your head.
Keep a natural arch in your back and tighten your
abs as you descend into a squat position, knees and
hips bent deeply, thighs just past parallel to the
floor. Your knees should be pointing in the same
direction as your toes. Return to standing and
repeat 10 times, then switch arms.
