When discussing exercises for balance, we need to look at the two major types of balance. We can break balance down into two different types of reflexes. These reflexes are known as righting reflexes and tilting reflexes.
Righting reflexes are in reference to when you are in motion and the surface below you is stable. Some easy examples of righting reflexes are simply walking on the sidewalk or walking up and downstairs. The balance centers for righting reflexes can largely be found in the cerebellum. The cerebellum is a region of the brain located at the back of the skull, beneath the cerebral hemispheres. Despite its relatively small size (about 10% of the brain’s volume), it contains over half of the brain’s neurons. The cerebellum plays a crucial role in motor control, coordination, balance, and posture. It does not initiate movement, but it contributes to the precision and timing of motor actions, making movements smooth and coordinated.
One of my favorite exercises for righting reflexes is having clients walk on a 2 x 4. This serves the same purpose as a balance beam but as it’s only an inch or two off the floor, it’s a very safe way to manage any risk of falling. I also use the box step up with my clients to help them work on their righting reflexes. I always have them start on a small box say 12-24 inches high and eventually work their way up higher and higher to increase the difficulty. The steps ups are not only for balance training, but they also build the lower body muscles and enhance the cardiovascular system.
The other main reflex involved in balance are the tilting reflexes. The tilting reflexes are activated when there is an unstable surface below you. Examples of this would be walking on an icy sidewalk, standing on a moving subway, or walking on a treadmill. The righting reflexes are also heavily involved when eyesight is limited. Think about when you try to walk around in the dark, balancing becomes much more challenging because you have no visual cortex to rely on and are therefore predominantly relying upon the tilting reflexes.
The tilting reflexes involve the vestibular system. The vestibular system is a complex sensory system located within the inner ear, playing a vital role in balance, spatial orientation, and coordinating movement. It helps the brain understand where the body is in space and maintain equilibrium, especially during movement or changes in head position. The vestibular system is composed of two main parts housed within the inner ear.
One of the parts is the Semicircular Canals: These three fluid-filled canals detect rotational movements of the head (such as turning left or right, nodding, or tilting). Each canal corresponds to one of the three planes of motion (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal).
When you move your head, the fluid in these canals moves as well, stimulating hair cells that send signals to the brain about the direction and speed of head movement.
The other part is the Otolith Organs: These consist of the utricle and saccule, which detect linear movements (such as moving forward, backward, up, or down) and changes in head position relative to gravity.
These organs contain tiny crystals called otoconia, which shift in response to gravity and movement, stimulating sensory hair cells that provide the brain with information about the body’s orientation and movement.
There are two primary ways to exercise the tilting reflexes. One is to do your exercises on an unstable surface. For these exercises, I like to incorporate a BOSU ball and the Cortex. Both of these pieces of equipment allow us to do basics exercises, such as squats or lunges, or even just balancing on a single leg. Now that these exercises are being done on an unstable surface, they become stimulators of the tilting reflexes.
The other way I like to help my clients with their balance via the tilting reflexes is to do standard exercises such as squats, lunges, or simply walking forward and backwards, but the catch is, I make them do it with their eyes closed. Once your eyes are closed you lose access to the visual spatial system, and then have to feel the exercise out with your vestibular system and your proprioceptive system.
By doing both the righting and tilting reflex exercises 3 to 4 times a week you can stimulate the parts of the brain responsible for making your balance better. These can easily be made part of your regular workout routine by putting them at the very beginning as a warm-up activity.
A bonus way to improve your balance is to have good posture. When I’m helping people improve their posture, my exercise of choice is the ELDOA. The ELDOA exercises help with proprioception of the spine. When one has good proprioception of the spine, they naturally hold themselves in a nice tall upright posture. When one fails to have good posture falls are much more likely. One of the reasons for this is forward head posture. When your head is forward of the rest of your body, it pulls your balance forward and unfortunately, down towards the ground. Another problem with poor posture is thoracic kyphosis. Kyphosis is when there is too much of a curve in the spine. People with a thoracic kyphosis tend to lean forward, again increasing the chances of a fall.
Another good habit to improve balance and avoid falling is simply avoiding trip hazards. Some basic trip hazards are leaving your shoes untied, having your pants too long, or simply just not paying attention to where you are going. The fixes for these are probably self-explanatory.
