Balance

Balance is something more than steadying something against 2 opposing forces. It is also a state of mind, a state that has driven many mad in the pursuit of. Balance doest have to be illusive, it can be as simple as saying this steak was enough, or I haven’t drank enough water today; it can also be “I have trained enough this week, let’s spend some time with the fam”.

However, let’s look at balance as give and take between your body and the forces placed upon it. Balance is necessity in sports. Balance is necessity in non -sports.


Why do we want balance?

Balance is the point in which we know we can come back to that lets us start over, whether it be the start of a lift or after taking a missed shot in a BJJ match. You know where you need to get back to so you are able to reset and send energy in the form of motion out as fast and hard as you can, all the while staying in control. Without this centeredness, one cannot regroup mentally and physiologically to prepare for the next attack or next defensive situation. If your opponent finds you off balance, he strikes with ease. In contrast, when you knock your opponent off balance, it is easier for you to attack and win the battle.

In lifting, we need balance to support the skeletal and muscular systems when moving outside the center and into one of the 3 planes, separately or all at once; with or without load. Without balance in lifting, we cannot apply the forces our muscles create appropriately, and then the outcome lacks true intent. Force is not generated in-line, and you do not reach your full potential and your training suffers.

When you train for a long time and do not examine the body for weakness, your balance suffers as you create imbalances.

Imbalances, the opposite to center.

Imbalances are easy to see. Are you typing right now or looking at the screen? I bet your shoulders are rounded in and your neck is jutting forward. This I call the computer syndrome. Boxers and Martial Artists do this all the time from being in the forward ready stance. Over and Over, for hours on end most of humanity has this issue. It is a true imbalance that can be easily fixed.

Think about this, you round your shoulders and neck all the time, and then you go out and try to lift or compete. You explode with full force, not realizing you have an imbalance that now causes misalignment of muscle and skeletal tissue. You can’t stop yourself when you miss the target or drop the bar, but your body continues to move in that direction. Next thing you know, you hear a pop or a crack and then searing pain. What is it? An injury and now you are side lined for weeks if not months.

And all you needed to do was some corrective exercises.

Stay tuned as I release a few small exercises anyone can do to help fight back against our enemy: the imbalance. First step is to see these imbalances. Next step is to fix them with corrective exercises. 3rd step is to fend off injury with stretching and joint mobility training that may only add on 10 minutes to your workout. Find a good sports medicine doctor or sports physical therapist. They can show you anatomically what is wrong with you or what you have a propensity to be stricken with.

Knowledge is power. Use it to stay in the game longer, win the match or just plain live pain free. Your body will thank you.