Balance Training: One More Damn Thing To Worry About?

Photo credit: Foxtongue

How's your balance?

I thought mine was pretty good. Then a while back Mizfit alerted me to a balance test that tells you how "old" you are based on how long you can stand on one foot, without swaying, with your eyes closed. I don't remember my exact score, but I think I came out somewhere around 113 years old. According to that test, it's a wonder I can get out of bed in the morning without falling flat on my face.

Now I'm still not convinced my balance is that bad. But even if it were, is this really a problem? I mean, judging by so many of the romantic comedies I've watched, isn't klutziness, clumsiness, and a tendency to stumble over things just a sign of adorableness? Don't pratfalls predict happy endings?

Well, apparently not in real life. When you're elderly and you take a spectacular tumble, it's not generally of sign of fun times and complicated romantic entanglements ahead. According to the CDC, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among the elderly.

So, OK, we want to make sure we head into our golden years all solid and graceful, not all tippy and teetery. But if we're not that old yet, why can't we just put it off a few decades? It's not like we don't already have enough to worry about, between aerobics and intervals and kegels and flossing our teeth and eating our probiotics and organizing our tax records.

Well, according to a neurology expert quoted in Runner's World, "You can lose as much as 75 percent of your balance ability between the ages of 25 and 75."

Oops.

So maybe it is best to take a look at this balance thing before is totally slips away from us.

Here are a few suggestions for working on your balance so that you don't become a CDC statistic someday.

1. Try bosu balls, wobble boards, stability balls, or other balance training gizmos.

There's something about investing in a fitness gadget that makes balance practice sound more appealing--at least for a few weeks until the novelty wears off. (I confess: I believe I have a wobble board somewhere in the basement that I haven't used in years.) Bosu balls seem to be getting very popular; and for a hilarious illustrated post on the proper use of one, go check out Jenny on the Spot.

2. Agility Training

I didn't even know this existed until Deb at Weight for Deb got all enthusiastic about it. Not only does it help with balance in dynamic situations, it can even sharpen your ability to think quickly. Which you'll need to do if you find yourself tripping over cones and ladders and hurtling towards the ground. Here are some sample agility exercises, and all I can say is: Yikes!

3. Wii Fit and other balance video games.

I keep hearing lots of great things about these, so I'm terribly jealous. Sounds like a great way to get a variety of balance exercises, but still be able to flail around in the privacy of your own home.

4. Yoga.

Yoga is great for balance. And not just in the evolved, serene, live-a-conscious lifestyle sense. But in the actual stop-tripping-and-falling-on-your-butt sense. For example, here you can find some online tips for standing balance poses.

5. Try fun-sounding sports that require balance.

These scare me to death, but braver souls than I seem to have a great time improving their balance by snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain biking, ice skating, skiing, surfing, or riding bucking broncos in the rodeo.

6. Regular Boring Old Balance Exercises:

Not as exciting as the rodeo, but there are many sources for balance exercises, like at Runner's World, Livestrong, Mayo Clinic, or 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet.

How about you folks, do you do have good balance? If not, are you doing anything to work on it?

[Note: This post also appears over at the Blogher 10X club, because Crabby is lazy like that. And hey, if you're feeling brave enough, you can even go check out the health and fitness challenges in the 10x forum.]

Unfair and Unbalanced? The Real Age Balance Test

Photo: hojusaram

Think you have good balance? Well, wanna take a quick test and find out? MizFit alerted me to one a while back that tells you how "old" you are in terms of your balance.

I know I don't have great balance, but compared with others my age I figured it should be pretty decent. I get a lot of exercise and don't just sit in a chair all day, and that's gotta count for something, right?

So I took it, and here's how I scored:


Seriously. I can't say that I'm entirely pleased with the results.

So what exactly is the test, and is it accurate? And what should I do about my apparently crappy balance?

Here's How You Test Yourself:

Note: this is from the Real Age folks, and I'm already pretty darn skeptical of them. This does NOT make me like them any better than I did before.

Stand barefoot on a flat, hard surface. Ask a partner to hold a watch and try not to laugh at you stand close by in case you start to fall.

Close your eyes, lift one foot about 6 inches off the floor, bending your knee at a 45-degree angle. Ask your partner to start timing.

Now hold this position "without jiggling or teetering, falling, cursing like an inebriated sailor on shore leave or opening your eyes."

Stop timing "when the raised foot begins to lower or touch the ground, if you begin to sway, if you hit the ground with a big ugly splat or if you open your eyes."

Repeat the test three times and average the times.

Results?

4 seconds means you're the equivalent of 70 years old;
5 seconds means 65 years old;
7 seconds-- 60;
8 seconds-- 55;
9 seconds-- 50;
12 seconds-- 45;
16 seconds-- 40;
22 seconds-- 30-35;
28 seconds-- 25-30;

And presumably after 28 seconds people explode or something because the values just stop at that point.

Now of course this would a good place to rebut the test results with some scholarly article on how to really measure average functional balance, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything like that. So instead, you get an opinionated tirade on:

Why I Think This Test Is Complete Horsesh*t:

Three words: "Close Your Eyes."

This renders the test nearly impossible for me and others like me.

I am one of those humans who is very visual. I like to see things. I'm crap on the phone, for instance, and I hate when someone reads me instructions out loud. I don't trust any of my senses nearly as much as my visual sense.

When I can see, I can stand on one foot forever. Or at least until it gets really really boring. When I can see, I can do the elliptical at high speed with no hands, forward or backwards, or jump from rock to rock when hiking. I rarely fall down for no reason at all. In brief: I am not nearly as spastic and uncoordinated as this test would have you believe because you have to perform it with your eyes closed.

And I know the "close your eyes" thing makes it harder for everyone; that's on purpose. But some of us get more discombobulated than others when we close our eyes.

Even if I know I'm closing my eyes intentionally, this is how my brain processes it:

ALERT! ALERT! WE HAVE NO VISUAL! HOUSTON, REPEAT, THERE IS NO VISUAL INPUT, ALERT, ALERT!

INITIATE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES! STABILIZE! COPY THAT? STABILIZE! SWING LEFT! NO, SWING RIGHT! THROW ARMS OUT TO THE SIDES! TIP FORWARD. NO, BACK, BACK, BACK, BACK!!

AHHHHHH! WE'RE GOING DOWN!!!....

Needless to say, it is hard to calmly balance under these conditions. And since the test equates flailing with failing, I'm usually out within a few quick seconds. Even if I don't put my foot down right away, I'm teetering and swaying like a palm tree in a hurricane.

Since I'm not blind, nor do I live in a world without electric lighting when it is dark, there is no practical need for me to stand on one foot with my eyes closed. Other than to score better on a stupid test.

Which means: next time I'm balancing on one leg anyway to do quad stretches, I'm gonna start practicing doing it with my eyes closed. Because I hate flunking tests, even stupid ones!

Balance Exercises:

Motivated to improve your balance? Well, there's always yoga and Tai Chi and bosu balls and balance boards. But here are some balance exercises from the LiveStrong site; there are pages and pages of them, all accompanied by short animations. Warning: it appears that performing these exercises may make you extremely muscular and bald.

Video courtesy of LIVESTRONG.COM

Wanting to improve your balance? Think it's just fine as is? Doing anything to improve it?