As you age, you may notice your balance slipping away. Sometimes, when you do a side-step, for example, you may go off balance and look a bit on the tipsy side, even when you have had nothing to drink. Yes, we must admit, looking tipsy in public can be a major embarrassment. Good balance peaks at 20 and will normally remain good until your mid-40s. However, after the 40s, your balance may deteriorate rapidly, and eventually, it will become noticeable. The good news is, you don’t have to let your balance deteriorate–you can do something about it. Even if you are young and feel as if your balance could be better, you can fix the issue. Have you ever heard of strength training? Does strength training help with balance? Of course, it does.
What Can Strength Training Do?
Strength training can do many things to better your body. Before we tell you more about strength training and improving your balance, let us give you a shortlist of some things strength training can do for you:
- Improve the bone mineral density
- Lower your risk of injury
- Improve the ability to take part in daily activities
- Improve your self-confidence
- Decrease bad cholesterol levels
- Enhance speed and power
- Improve aerobic capacity
- Improve your balance
Strength Training Can Improve Your Balance
That’s right, we said strength training can improve your balance, but it is not something that will happen overnight. In strength training, you will create a new relationship between your brain and your body. As you learn how to coordinate your movements, the signals going to your brain will grow, starting with the pathways leading to your brain and then the joints and muscles directly. Strength training will teach our balance centers (including the feet, eyes, and ears) to work together to sense imbalance and correct it. As the muscles gain strength, especially in the lower portion of your body, you will become more stable.
Reduce Your Risk of Falling
Through strength training, the benefits go past the appearance of your body having well-toned muscles. Your coordination, posture, and balance will improve. If you have poor balance and flexibility, you can turn to strength training to help you reduce your risk of falling by up to forty percent.
Your Balance Improves with Practice
Like we previously said, this isn’t something that will happen overnight. It is going to take time before you notice any improvements, but once you do, it will be well worth it. You can turn to strength training exercises to help improve your mind-body connection and to help you build nice stability in the big muscles of your legs. Afterward, turn to specific exercises that are known for challenging your balance.
