Balance Training
Move · Flexibility & Mobility · Movement, Typed Supps
A trainable capacity that declines with age faster than strength does.
Stage by stage
- The inputs (Three systems combine): Postural control integrates inner ear, vision, and the sense of joint position; failure usually reflects loss in one of them.
- Training (Remove or degrade an input): Progression comes from narrowing the base, closing the eyes, or standing on an unstable surface.
- Adaptation (Nervous system reweights): The system relies more on remaining inputs and speeds up corrective responses — a neural change, so it appears quickly.
- Long term (Rapid gain, rapid loss): Balance declines with age faster than strength and reverses quickly without maintenance, so it needs ongoing practice.
Muscles trained
- Primary: calves, abs
- Secondary: quads, obliques
Intensity
2.3 METs (Activity promoting video game (e.g., Wii Fit), light effort (e.g., balance, yoga)).
Time to effect
- Weeks: Measurable improvement within two to four weeks, with comparably fast loss if practice stops.
Related supplements
Common myth
“Balance is something you either have or lose with age.” In reality: It is trainable at any age, including into the eighties, and improves within weeks — but it reverses quickly without maintenance, so it needs to be ongoing.
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