Last week, we reviewed the young Olympic phenom, Simone Biles and her ability to display the extents at which the human body can move in various presentations of imbalance. We concluded that Simone is a generational phenom of athletic performance that arises once a decade to set new world records in sports. While the rest of the earth’s population is happy being able to get out bed and walk to their kitchen every morning, without much hinderance to our balance, we don’t notice how valuable balance is until we have it taken away. Balance, proprioception, and coordination can be impacted by advancements in age, injury, or suboptimal fitness levels. These scenarios to losing balance are curable though. Our Olympic champion friend, Simone, has a rare set of skills. However, she keeps the skills of elite balance because she practices and trains in a consistent manner. Therefore, if we want to avoid decreases to our ability to have sufficient balance in our everyday lives, we need to adhere to a consistent practice schedule to maintain our balance we use in our everyday lives.
Balance can be defined as the ability to correct imbalances. Presentations of imbalance can lead to unproductive and possibility harmful situations. Tripping over a dog toy, uneven sidewalk, or a grandchild running rampantly in our direction of travel are some examples of random occurrences that lead into having to correct an unbalanced situation. The loss of footing requires immediate correction of placing both feet in a centered positive to regain balance. The ability to regain a balance in standing position after balance is disrupted seems simple enough. However, this basic tactic can develop into a lost skill if left unpracticed. It doesn’t take exceptionally long for a human body to plummet to the ground, like a tree being chopped down, when a foot is swept out from underneath a person. The result produces a thud that not only echoes in sound, but that force sends a tremendous amount of energy throughout the body upon impact that can elicit significant damage.
We can prevent such a fall from loss of balance, due to tripping, by mindfully practicing tactics to improve reaction time, foot dexterity, coordination, and awareness. A simple and effective tactic requiring twenty-six repetitions we conduct with our personal training clients is what we call “ABC foot writing.” To perform, find a solid object to spot yourself in case you feel as if you will lose balance. An edged wall, outdoor post, or refrigerator will suffice. Safety first. After you have found an object to spot yourself, lift one foot in the air. Imagine your big toe is the tip of a Sharpee marker. While keeping the foot elevated off the ground, trace the letters of the alphabet in the air, envisioning you are writing each letter in front of you on an imaginary piece of paper. Once you have finished the alphabet on one of the feet, plant the foot you just exercised firmly on the ground and repeat on the other foot.
This practice is an efficient and effective way to improve balance, strengthen core muscles, and increase coordination of the feet and ankles. By keeping the foot elevated and conducting the alphabet, the ankle joint, various metatarsal bones, and toes are moving in the motions of flexion, extension, circumduction, pronation, and supination. These are all critically important movements involved in the performance on landing and balancing on each foot to establish optimal balance. By keeping these motions present in the forefront of our mind, the feet are more likely to be prepared to correct a random presentation of imbalance.
Olympic athletes need to be elite performers at Olympic level events. Time is devoted to ensuring they are able to perform at the Olympic level. As the other ninety-nine percent of the general population, we need to be elite performers in avoiding falls and imbalance injuries. Therefore, we need to practice for unbalancing scenarios regularly. By performing just one set of writing the alphabet with our feet, we can contribute to fending off accidents due to loss of balance.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
