Balance and Stability: Why Should You Care?
Posted on November 24, 2016
Balance is often an underrated element of fitness but is something that everyone no matter what their fitness goals are should pay attention to. Balance, or lack there of is one of the biggest reasons people injure themselves. Strengthening your muscles to improve your balance can reduce your risk of slips, trips or falls no matter what your environment is. Whether it is tripping over the corner of a rug, slipping on a wet floor or scrambling to the top of a mountain having good balance can save you from injury. For more information on improving your general balance check out Our Podcast Episode About It! We have some excellent tips on improving your balance in three easy phases that you can start practicing right away.
I want to dive into more discussion of why balance is particularly important for hikers. Hiking is exercise for the full body combining strength, endurance and balance in a coordinated movement. The feet, ankles, knees and hips are all complex joints that are required for walking. A large percent of the population only walks on level surfaces, pavement, wood flooring, concrete etc. By walking on these level surfaces the joints of the lower limbs are exposed to the loads on the same flat surface over and over and over again. If the majority of your walking is flat your body won’t be prepared for the varying terrain of a hiking trail (leaves, rocks, roots, moss, mud etc). It is therefore beneficial to train your stability to be able to cope with the different loads that are placed on the body when walking on different uneven surface.
One way to counteract the repetitive load of walking on flat surfaces is to walk on uneven surfaces more frequently. If you live in the middle of a city it can be more challenging find areas to hike during the week but try finding a park on walk on the grass or perhaps there is a gravel pathway nearby. The more varying terrain you can expose your feet to the more you are preparing your body for the environment you will experience hiking.
In addition to changing your walking terrain as much as possible you can also perform strength exercises that will improve your balance. Exercises targeting your legs including your calf and glute muscles are beneficial such as calf raises, squats and deadlifts. Once you have mastered these movements with both feet it is even better to perform these movements standing on one leg. By completing unilateral exercises like leg calf raises, split squats, step-ups or single leg step-ups you are increasing the work required by the glute and calf muscles and progressing your training. In addition to targeting your legs, training your core will improve your balance. All movements of the body start from the core which includes your abdominals, pelvis, hips and torso. Core strength can assist you in maintain proper posture while hiking which helps you find stability on uneven ground and reduces your risk of injury. The plank is one of my favourite exercises to strengthen your core and there are numerous variations you can perform to challenge your balance by decreasing your base of support and adding movement. If you can hold a plank for at least 60 seconds try performing side planks, add leg lifts or mountain climbers.
See the Exercises and Why Exercising is so Important for Hiking
