Having good balance can keep you safe and sure-footed, preventing falls and ensuring future independence. Balance is affected by muscular strength and endurance. Performing balance-specific training exercises can improve your balance following an injury, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Our bodies are covered with proprioceptors, which sense where our body parts are, without even looking. If you have ever started to roll your ankle and it has instinctively righted itself, this is the proprioceptors working automatically to prevent injury.
Step 1
Stand on the balance board with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold on to a chair for support if needed and rock the board forward and backward, then side to side for two to three minutes. Repeat without the chair for one minute. For an advanced move, try it on one leg, front to back, for one minute and side to side for one minute.
Step 2
Rotate the wobble board around in circles so that the edge of the board is in constant contact with the floor, feet shoulder-width apart for two to three minutes. Switch directions for two to three minutes. Repeat without the chair for one minute. Switch directions for another minute. For and advanced move, try one leg for one minute, and then switch directions for another minute.
Step 3
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Balance for as long as you can without the edges of the balance board touching the floor. Aim for over two minutes without touching the floor. When you master this move, try it on one leg for as long as you can.
Step 4
Rotate the balance board in a circle but do not allow the edge of the board to touch the floor. Aim for two minutes each direction. Try it on one leg for one minute in each direction.
Step 5
When you have mastered all of these steps, you should have strong, stable ankles. Now try it all with your eyes closed!
Tips and Warnings
- Proprioceptive balance exercises have been used routinely as part of rehab programs following injury and are becoming more commonly used in injury reduction programs to prevent sports injuries in adolescents.
- Start out slowly if you are rehabbing an ankle injury. Your muscles and tissues are weak and unstable and your sensors are not working well, so you have an increased chance of re-injury. Your ankle must be slowly and gently strengthened for best results. The same thing applies if you are elderly or have poor balance. The balance board is an unstable device and has the potential to cause a fall, so be sure to hold onto a chair when you are a beginner.
Member Comments