Improving balance: At home stuff

[Beavereater]

A few months back I had a checkup at the hospital. One of the tests they did was to have me stand on a little mat with sensors in it. I looked straight with my arms at my side. They did it once with my eyes open and once closed. With my eyes open it was no problem, then I closed them and according to the sensors, was leaning forward and bringing my weight back to center (Over 30 seconds)

That was just a small test but then the other day I was at the arcade and they hand a deadlift style game/machine and a balance machine. I was HORRIBLE at balancing myself on a board that was placed over a roller type device. I would last 5 or 6 seconds before I would touch the side bars and the machine would yell out "Get off!! You suck!!" Another friend tried and got up to around 20 before it became to hard.

Just wondering if there were any 'at home' type activities that could be done during the day or even at work, that would help train the body to keep balanced.

[slashkills]

The board on the roller thingy is all ab strength. I guess just practice things that require balance and improve your strength.

[soclydeza]

i found that since i started doing more squats that i feel more grounded on my feet. one really good one that i used to do, great for martial arts, is hold your right leg up (kinda like ur doing a quad stretch) and stay balanced on your left. do this for a few mins, try to increase ur time every day. repeat with your left. this will help strengthen all the little muscles in your feet, ankle and up your leg. for more of a challenge, try it on a pillow or a bosu ball

[IronDiggy]

After I broke my ankle my balance was messed up (on crutches for nearly 3 months) so I bought me one of those indo boards. worked extremely well. Just start out assisted because they are murder if you fall off on concrete.

[J.C.]

There are a couple of yoga moves that will improve balance. In fact, yoga in general will increase your balance because a good class will have you concentrating on proprioception throughout all the stretches. Over time you will gain a much better feel for your body and how to hold yourself.

[Hazerboy]

stand on one foot. Try it with your eyes closed as well.

[Tom Mutaffis]

I skateboarded for years which gave me pretty good balance, though I am not sure that would be the best solution for you.

Do you do any footwork or stability drills? Things like running ladders, dots, circus bear, bosu exercises, etc. could improve your balance. If your gym is into the 'functional training' / NASM stuff they then should have a good amount of stability training pieces laying around. If you can do BW squats on a BOSU then that is a good start.