Over 50 and looking for ways to make your workouts the best ones possible? Welcome to Part 4 of a series sharing principles you can use to enhance your exercise program and life. These principles are specifically helpful for baby boomers, whether newcomers to exercise or long time “activists.”
Before revealing Principle 5, let’s briefly recap the insider strategies I shared in Parts 1-3. Click on each link to access the relevant post. Just be sure to come back!
Principle 1: Activate Your Back
Principle 2: Train Using Functional Options
Principle 3: Activate from the Middle to Extremities; from Inside, Out
Principle 4: Offer Movement Patterns that Enhance Cognitive Skills
And now for today’s peak performance principle:
Principle 5: Incorporate Dynamic and Static Balance Exercises
When you hear “balance options” do you think solely of static balance moves? “Stand still and lift one leg.” If so, time to add dynamic balance to your repertoire. Coming up — lots of practical balance exercises you can play with.
Use variations on walking as a fun and functional balance warm up
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Walk This Way … and That
Walking – the Ultimate Balance Exercise
Walking is the ultimate and primary functional balance move. Use variations on walking as a fun and functional balance warm up. Try walking forward, backward, quickly with direction changes, slowly, super slowly. Then walk in one line as if on a balance beam going forward and back while lifting a knee up and over with each step. Also challenge yourself to go forward and in reverse toe to heel; heel to toe.
Another dynamic balance move that is also functional is heel walking. With toes lifted, walk around the room both forward and in reverse. Or take two steps up to an imaginary line with the heels down, toes up, then two steps back to start. Watch that you don’t hinge at the hips to counterbalance; keep your hips open and glutes under your shoulders, not behind them.
Improving Static Balance as Primary Goal
When selecting static balance exercises you have a range of moves to choose from. Assuredly, you’ll want to include a few options whereby you support on one leg while lifting, holding, moving the other (half static, half dynamic). In such cases, the balance exercise itself is the focus.
For example, stand on the left leg while making figure eight loops in front and behind the body, clockwise and counterclockwise with the right leg.
Improving Static Balance as Secondary, Two-for-One Goal
You can create a time efficient, two-for-one coupon special by combining static balance challenges with upper body exercises. In essence, any time you stand in place while doing another exercise, you have an opportunity to add a balance component. Simply take advantage of varying stance options, progressing from a wide to narrow base of support.
For instance, if you are doing lat pulldowns with resistance tubing, rather than always default to a wide, parallel stance (feet about shoulder width apart in the same plane), narrow or stagger your feet. While your primary goal is to strengthen the lats, you are retraining your body and brain to account for a different base of support as a secondary benefit.
Stance Progression to Add to Balance Exercises
Your stance options in order of most secure to most challenging are as follows:
- Wide Stance Parallel (Most Common and offers Most Control)
- Wide Stance Staggered (one foot forward of the other, though not lined up)
- Narrow Stance Staggered
- Narrow Stance Parallel (Feet and Inner Thighs touching)
- Feet in one line but not heel to toe (ie, space between front and back foot)
- Tandem Stance (feet lined up one in front of the other, heel to toe (More Challenge)
- One foot resting on top of the other or 1 leg lifted (Most Challenge)
Stretching is also a great place and time to work in balance work
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Stagger or narrow the feet during upper body stretches. Stretching is also a great place and time to work in more balance work. Gently dropping your ear side to side while your feet are in tandem position requires new attention and adaptation.
Really Stretching My Limits While Balancing
As you see, this principle is accessible and straightforward. Use it and any of the other principles to stimulate your creativity and rethink your workout content. Your body will thank you — your future, functional, energetic body!
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Kymberly Williams-Evans, MA
The post Create Great Baby Boomer Workouts: Part 4 appeared first on Fun and Fit: Active Aging Answers for Boom Chicka Boomers.