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The Importance of Balance

Happy Tuesday! Dr. Kelly here. Balance.

Bosu BallOne of my big things about osteoporosis is falling. You are not as likely to break a bone if you don’t fall.

So let’s keep you balanced.

The technical term is proprioception.

Proprioception allows your body, joints, muscles, to be aware of where you are in space.

You know how you learn that your house has a slight step up from the kitchen to the dining room.

Or that one of your stairs is a different height.

Your body can sense and learn that.

When you take an awkward step, your body can quickly readjust, and you stay upright.

woman-on-wobble-seatThe vestibular disc, the wobble seat, has multiple uses.

You can stand on it!!

But let’s start with some more basic exercises for balance.

The simplest is to hold onto a chair or put your hand on a wall for stability and lift one leg.

If that is easy, try to lift one leg in the air.

If that is easy, close your eyes and lift one leg. Stay close to the wall if you need it.

Count how long you can stand on one leg with your eyes closed.

I’m sure have seen the bosu ball at the health club.

Since I don’t have one at home, when I lift weights, I like to stand on a mini trampoline.

I stand on one leg for rep one, the other leg for rep two and both feet for the last rep all on the mini trampoline.

I also like to do one arm at a time.

That looks like I’m standing on my right leg only on the trampoline. I do a curl with the left arm, then the right arm.

Woman on TrampolineThis creates stress from one side to another. The movement as you shift your arms between each side while standing on the same one leg activates your proception.

That the shifting from side to side, like on the wobble disc, your body needs to keep you upright, keep you on the disc.

Your nervous system fires messages to the muscles of your spine keeping you balanced.

You can reach out by responding to this email or text us if you have any questions on what exercises are best for you. Even better, ask me about it at your next visit if there is a certain exercise you have a question about.

Yours in Health Naturally,

Dr. Kelly

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