How Do Bodies Physiologically Adapt to Balance Training?

How the Body Maintains Balance

According to the National Institute on Aging, each year, one out of every three people over the age of 65 will fall. More then one million of these falls will require a trip to the emergency room. In addition, falls are the number one reason that older adults lose their independence. However a simple balance training program can help you to reduce your risk for a fall. Maintaining your balance is a complex process and important at any age. First, eyes must process the information around you. As you move your head, fluid within the ears also moves and presses on nerves. Sensors in your skin, muscles and joints take note of pressures on the body. Then, all of this information must be sent to your brain, telling it what actions need to be taken in order to maintain your balance. The brain then sends neurological signals throughout the body to make the required adjustments. There are exercises you can do at any age to help improve your balance. A good balance training program involves a combination of weight training, stretching and sometimes specialized therapy techniques to help improve or restore your sense of balance.

Doing Vestibular Rehabilitation Exercises Retrains Your Brain

Doing specific exercises with the eyes open, closed, while staring at a non-moving object and then a moving object will help your brain learn to process sensations of dizziness. These exercises include moving the eyes, head and trunk as directed by a physical therapist. As you practice these controlled exercises, you may initially become dizzy and feel like you are going to fall, even with the slightest of movements. However with appropriate guidance and continued practice, the brain will become more efficient at processing movement, and the dizziness will lessen. You will improve your ability to move around in various circumstances without the brain overreacting, causing dizziness and the resulting a loss of balance.

Weight Training Exercise Improves Muscle Strength

Exercises that strengthen the abdominal muscles, back and legs will help your body maintain balance. When you perform weight-lifting exercises, your muscles become stronger. Stronger muscles will help to prevent you from falling. In addition, if you start to lose your balance, stronger muscles can "catch" you and stop a fall from happening. The stronger your muscles are, the more you can move through activities with control. The more control you have over your movements, the less likely you are to lose your balance. For example, if you are having a hard time getting out of a chair because your leg muscles have become weak, the struggle to get up can cause you to become off balance and fall. To maintain balance when you walk, run, climb stairs, lift items and participate in sporting events, you need good muscle strength.

Stretching Improves Flexibility

If your muscles are tight and you have limited range of motion, you are at a higher risk of losing your balance. Tight muscles will restrict your ability to move your body through daily activities and hobbies. For example, if the hamstring muscles in the back of your legs are tight, you may need to move differently and compensate in order to walk. Tight hamstring muscles prevent the knee from fully extending when you stretch your leg out to take a step. This may cause you to compensate, which will, in turn, throw your body off balance. By stretching daily, your muscles and joints maintain their full range of motion, which will allow you to perform various movements while maintaining balance and control.

Balance Training Improves Your Reflexes

Reflexes are involuntary and automatic reactions by your body in response to the environment. The reflexes are there to prevent harm to the body, such as when losing your balance and falling. For example, if you start to fall, your brain will signal you to take a step out and reach your hand out. The first goal is to try to prevent the fall. The second is to help lessen the impact if you do fall. Balance training that requires you to stand on unsteady surfaces and move forward, backward and sideways will help to improve the speed and efficiency with which your reflexes respond. Challenging your body to move various ways and under different circumstances will train your body to become faster at making the corrections and adjustments that help you to maintain your balance.

Mind/Body Therapies Teach You To Process Your Movement Choices

Mind/body movement therapies include yoga, Ta Chi, Pilates, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais and others. These techniques teach you to be aware of how you are moving and using your body during daily activities and hobbies. They involve slow, coordinated movements that are done with complete attention to how the body is responding. As you learn to sense where your center of gravity is, you can make wiser movement choices that will help you to maintain your balance. By concentrating on maintaining balance during your session, you will learn to pay attention to your balance at all times. You will become better at sensing when you are off balance, and you will know how to correct yourself.

Resources

• National Institute on Aging: Falls and Older Adults
• Brain and Spine Foundation: Dizziness and Balance Problems
• ChiroWeb: Sensory Motor Training