Include Balance Training in Your Sessions
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By Sal | March 31, 2010
There are all kinds of balance drills that you can do with your clients. I have included several of my favorite, basic balance drills in my book, “How to Make More Money as a Personal Trainer,” with links to instructional videos. But there’s no secret to great balance drills and you can use your intuition to devise your own.
I use a series of drills that involve clients standing on one leg and bending from the waste to reach and touch a series of cones that I arrange in a number of different patterns. To provide variety I add an element of coordination to these drills and have clients pick up and move small, paper drinking cups while moving, bending and reaching.
I do not believe in having clients stand on an unstable surface while performing balance drills. Most people have enough trouble maintaining balance on solid ground, so to use an unstable surface accessory doesn’t help people develop functional balance. The goal is not to perform circus tricks, but to develop balance, stability and flexibility that will help them in the real world.
Moving slowly – too slowly, anyway - doesn’t necessarily help clients perform these drills better and develop functional balance, either. Think about it, the process of losing and regaining your balance happens in the blink of an eye. Have you ever slipped on the ice or on a wet, muddy hill? If you really lose it, you’re on the deck before you know what happened. Many people may not fall, but hurt themselves anyway because they move so quickly and violently when they regain their balance.
Have clients perform balance drills with some speed and control and help them better develop functional balance, stability and flexibility.
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