![]() ![]() To make it easier, tap the raised leg to the floor in between the hinge and the side bend. To make this harder, keep your arms extended out to the sides and hold medium to heavy weights. "By balancing on one leg while moving through various planes of motions, your core muscles are strengthened and your balance is challenged," Darby says. Complete the sequence eight times on one side.Then reach your right hand down to touch the outside of your right leg. As you do, lower your torso and reach your right hand to touch the inside of your left ankle. Hinge at your hips, tighten your core, and raise your right leg out behind you.Start balancing on your left leg with your right knee bent at a 90-degree angle, hands extended out to the side. ![]() Ready to start? Below, Darby demos seven exercises that are great for challenging and improving your balance skills. ![]() ![]() "However, no matter your workout level or goals, incorporating balancing exercises into each of your workouts or warm-up routines is ideal for an overall balanced (pun intended) fitness regimen." "As a former dancer and athlete, I incorporate balance into all of my workouts," she adds. "Warming up with exercises like this is a great way to activate your core and mentally prepare you for the workout to come, since balance requires a significant amount of mental focus," Darby adds. The best way to use these balance-based moves? Choose a few to add to your warm-up. "Having to focus mentally during these type of exercises impacts your ability to have a mind-body connection in your workouts," Darby says, which can also carry over to everyday activities outside of the gym. "This can include lifting and holding one or more of your extremities at a time and/or the use of props such as weights or unstable surfaces such as Bosu balls." Balance work is also great for bodily awareness. "Basically anything that challenges your center of gravity will improve your balance," Darby says. When you do exercises that throw off your center of gravity-like holding one leg up in the air while doing a bicep curl-your body and brain have to work overtime to keep you stable. But purposefully training your body to move in new ways that disrupt and challenge your balance will also help tremendously. All of these muscles are important for both posture and stability. Your back and chest play a role here, too. Having a strong core allows you to control your body's positioning and maintain an upright position. The core is often referred to as the powerhouse of your body. Any workout move you do requires some level of balance-to even just walk you need to have basic balancing abilities. "Improving balance is important for overall fitness and everyday activities simply because it increases overall movement function," Robbie Ann Darby, an ACE-certified personal trainer in New York City, tells SELF. Working on your balance, or stability, won't just make you look more graceful in the weight room (though that's a welcome perk). But another huge benefit of exercise you may not think about is how it improves your balance. Or maybe you just exercise to feel good and stay healthy-all are valid motivations for breaking a sweat. With you exercise, you may focus on how certain regimens will improve your strength, help you lose weight, or even make you more flexible. ![]()
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