Lose Your Balance to Improve It

How often do you really test your balance? Adults rarely skitter across balance beams or jump from rock to rock -- that's kid stuff, unless you're hiking. Yet in order to retain good balance, we need to practice losing it in a controlled manner.

To activate those smaller, stabilizing muscles in your knees, ankles and hips, try balance training on unstable surfaces such as:

• Rocker boards -- A flat board with a base design capable of tilting forward/back or side to side. Good board to start on.
  
• Wobble boards -- A trickier board that teeters 360 degrees. I used one often after a knee surgery. Pick up one of these and wobble like a Weeble during phone conferences at work. Practice enough and you won't fall down.
• Indo Boards -- Even tougher, this skateboardish platform slides on top of a plastic roller. Be safe, the roller can turn into a projectile, and so can you. Start slowly and have a chair or spotter standing by. When the board is balanced, you're "in trim" and likely getting trimmer.

Most of us meet Mr. Rocker Board at the physical therapist's office. Beyond better fitness, strong stabilizers are a smart insurance plan against injury or re-injury. Stick with these balance training tools and avoid those therapy bills.