Humans function in dynamic environments and rely on the body’s automated responses to adjust to imbalances. The body’s internal wiring is equipped with a vast network of neuromuscular connections, granting the ability to immediately adapt to even the slightest indication of imbalance. The human body’s infrastructure functions as a central processing unit, with hard-wired connections that contribute to everyday movements, including dynamic changes in direction, balance calibration, posture, and maintaining an upright stance. A few factors playing a pivotal role in optimal balance include the reaction time of the eyes, the inner ear complex of the vestibulocochlear system, and the proprioceptive properties of the body’s skeletal muscles.
Presentations of visual imbalance can occur when a person needs to immediately direct their gaze to another location or turn their head, which can lead to dizziness. If the head shifts to a different orientation quickly and the eyes are not conditioned to such an immediate demand, the brain may not detect the change in direction, potentially disrupting the body’s ability to maintain an upright posture. This could lead to disturbances in forward-to-backward, and side-to-side stability, resulting in a sense of instability. Examples might include getting up too fast from a seated position.
Proprioceptive cells are located throughout the body’s skeletal muscles, which automatically trigger muscles to assist in maintaining balance during everyday human movement. An example of the proprioceptive system of muscles adjusting to an imbalance in our environment might be the body automatically taking an additional step forward during a normal walking pattern after tripping over a crack jutting out of the sidewalk.
Vision plays a role in maintaining balance because it is one of the first stimuli our brain perceives when moving in a dynamic environment. Before we even move our bodies in activities such as walking, the eyes scan the environment, providing information that helps our bodies prepare to make the appropriate movements to interact with our surroundings successfully. Vision contributes to postural awareness, limiting excessive body sway, and triggering proprioceptive muscles to adjust to minor movements that might affect our balance. Additionally, the eyes help us detect threats, which can prompt our bodies to move in a different direction to avoid potential injury. For example, when walking through a crosswalk, the possibility of a car running a red light is rare but could pose a severe threat to our health. When the eyes see this, the body immediately reacts with an increased sense of urgency, either to stop, take a lateral step, or turn around to run backwards to avoid an accident.
An exercise we conduct with our personal training clients to improve balance is the traditional heel-to-toe walk. This movement is commonly used during a test conducted by our law enforcement officer friends when testing a person’s balance after they have been cited for potentially being under the influence of a substance that hinders their ability to operate a motorized vehicle. However, it serves as an invaluable tool of exercise that not only requires no equipment to improve fitness levels, but is rewarding when practiced often:
To perform the heel-to-toe walk, stand with both feet on the ground and toes facing forward. While distributing your center of gravity toward one foot, gradually bring the opposite foot forward until it is just before your stable foot, and touch your heel to the toe of the stabilizing foot. Once your balance has been recalibrated to the new leading foot, bring the trailing foot around the stabilizing foot and repeat the same movement, traveling in a straight line. Travel forward in this movement for about the length of five to ten feet.
The brain is a processing center. It’s only as good as the information coming in. Sensory information comes into the brain via the data and feedback from the visual, vestibulocochlear, and neuromuscular proprioception systems. If this information is received in a faulty manner in a deconditioned sense of balance, it will elicit a diminished signal to address imbalances.
Stimulating and training components of balance can assist in improvements in turning the head, change-of-direction, and balance recalibration. Muscles shorten and lengthen in response to an immediate change in sensory input. Exercise helps stimulate these mechanisms to process environmental feedback efficiently. It aids in maintaining and potentially increasing the speed at which we respond to situations that require balance to preserve our well-being. Therefore, the more coordinated, strong, and conditioned to dynamic movements a person is, the more adaptable they can be to a presentation of imbalance.
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.