Healthy Hollywood: Get Movin’ Monday – Put Balance Into Your Workout!

We want balanced lives – balanced checkbooks – balanced diets – but how about adding balance to our workouts? I’m not talking about the right cardio to toning exercises – but incorporating stability skills into your routine.

I’ve noticed a huge trend at my Equinox gym in New York City. Fitness-goers are testing and strengthening their stability skills with all sorts of odd-looking toys from wobble boards to BOSU balls (a cut-in-half stability ball) to squishy pillow discs. These gadgets might look simple enough to hop on – but trust me – there’s a lot more to it – and you will end up on your butt if you’re not careful. Been there – done that!

Celebs are even getting into the balance act. Kelly Osbourne and Christina Hendricks have both added it to their training routine. Hendricks even revealed to Health magazine she likes the BOSU ball. “You have to balance on it, and I do weights and squats on it. I’m pretty good at it…”

So, why does someone need to work on balance? “You can have the biggest muscles in the world, but if balance is off and the actual core weak, then a hard shove can cause you to topple over. I have seen a trend of people interspersing Yoga, tae kwon do, and exercises that place a great emphasis on good balance and being centered into their workouts,” reveals Dr. Darren Pollack of NYC’s DASHA Wellness. “Balance, a strong core, and good posture are imperative for injury prevention,” adds Dr. Pollack. Plus, balance is something we all use in our everyday lives – think walking or reaching for an item in a cupboard.

To evaluate your own balance, the fitness website, SparkPeople suggests imagining you’re going to walk forward on a straight line, then place one foot directly in front of the other so that the heel of your front foot touches the toes of your back foot. Keep both feet flat on the floor, hold this position and close your eyes. If you start to wobble as soon as you close your eyes – your balance is poor. However, if you can hold the position for 30 seconds, you are doing well.

Dr. Pollack’s 3 Favorite Balancing-Improving Exercises:

1. Place a pillow or BOSU ball (more advanced) on the floor and step on it. Take turns standing on one foot, and extending the other leg out to the side (raised about six inches off the ground). Then, in two-second intervals, blink both eyes, keeping them closed for two seconds and then opening them again. This will train your core and proprioceptor response (the sensors that provide information about joint angle, muscle length, and tension), allowing you to improve balance without relying on vision.

2. Standing on a BOSU ball or wobble board (more advanced) hold a light (2 pound) medicine ball with your right hand, directly out to the side with the arm straight. Hold your left arm extended straight in front of your chest. Maintaining balance and keeping arms fully extended, bring your right to the left. With both arms extended in front of the chest, transfer the ball from the right to the left hand. Holding the ball, extend your left arm to the side. Repeat this motion continuously, shifting the ball from one hand to the other in a slow, smooth motion while keeping the core strong and maintaining good balance. To make the exercise even more difficult and challenging to your balance, close your eyes.

3. Sit straight up on a standard size exercise ball as if seated in a chair with the legs curved in front of you and feet flat on the floor. To challenge yourself, sit with the knees as close together as possible (to simplify widen knees). Holding 5 – 10 pound weights, begin doing bicep curls while maintaining balance and sitting up straight. Repeat for 3 sets of 15. Again, to make the exercise more difficult, do it with your eyes closed.

For more information on Dr. Pollack and the DASHA Wellness center, head to www.dashawellness.com.