Balance Training for the Young and Young at Heart

Can a 94 year-young retired animator practice the same balance and agility training drills as a professional football player and achieve many of the same benefits?

For the past few years, I have been fortunate to work with Ms. McLaren (she prefers to be called “Babs”).

I have prepared a video with her demonstrating her agility drills and showing how her balance has progressed over the years.

The drills required some modification. But she can do them. And Babs has realized significant benefits from practicing the drills – most notably her improved balance has made her more steady and confident. It has also given her personal satisfaction in her progress.

Modified Ladder Drills – Balance Exercises

Ladder drills are popular with professional soccer and football athletes for increasing agility, speed and quickness. The players run down a flat ladder (usually made with rope or tape), and step in and out of the ladder as quickly as they can.

These same drills – generally referred to as agility training – can be applied to anyone at any age who wants to improve their dynamic balance.

As we get older, our neuromuscular system (our nerves and muscles) becomes less responsive. Quick changes in direction become more difficult. The ability to catch oneself when falling diminishes over time.

As a result, I encourage all of my clients, regardless of age,  to incorporate balance training into their exercise program.

It has probably been a number of years since you have done any balance training. I suspect that if I was to perform an assessment on you, that you might be surprised by your results from the balance test.

The Stepping Response

One strategy frequently used by Physiotherapists when we start to lose our balance is something known as a stepping response. A stepping response is a balance response that occurs when someone steps quickly to adjust from a loss of balance.

Seems simple enough, but if your foot does not step out fast enough either forward, sideways or backward another body part (such as your hand, arm, hip or head) will come in contact with the ground. This can lead to a bruise, strain, a sprain or, worse, a fracture.

Neuromuscular Combined with Strength Training

The neuromuscular training, such as the agility drills in the video, focus on improving the following:

• Movement patterns: As most of us age we have a distinct patterns of movements that we do each day. Challenging that pattern prepares your body for the unexpected.
• Muscular recruitment: When we incorporate agility/balance training we challenge muscles in the front and back of the legs to work together. Torso muscles also work to assist in the balance.
• Dynamic balance: The ability to maintain balance through movement, is directly impacted and improves.
• Speed and reaction time: The ability of the body or part of the body to move quickly.

Combining strength training with neuromuscular training is a winning combination. Strength training improves a muscles ability to react against gravity.

Areas Where You Can Improve Your Balance

There are a number of areas you want to improve as you work on your balance training and there are specific agility drills that you can do to meet your balance goals:

• Side-to-side stability is very important in the prevention of hip fractures. Lateral, forward and backward stepping drills can improve side-to-side stability.
• Many times a fall can be prevented if the person places their foot behind herself. This will allow her to regain stability. Backwards stepping drills help develop this skill.

New Movement Patterns

With seniors, agility drills can also have an added benefit of learning a new movement pattern. Many of my clients over the age of 60 require several repeats of a pattern. We start slowly at first and I have them follow along after me. We then gradually increase the pace and complexity of the drill.

Ms. McLaren, because of her advanced age, would generally forget the drill from session to session. While her mind forgot the exercise, her body did not. Each time the drill was introduced, it required less time for her to learn. For example, when presented with an open or closed ladder, Ms. McLaren can recall the basic drills.

Here is Babs at work. There is more detail on the specific drills below the video.

Suggested Balance and Agility Drills

The video has the many of the variations listed below. The type and variety of agility drills you do is only limited by your imagination.

I have prepared an illustrated downloadable guide, available online for health professionals with a MelioGuide Pro subscription and online for clients in their MelioGuide Exercise for Better Bones Program, with detailed descriptions of each of the exercises.

• Suggested Stepping Progressions:
  • Forward stepping
  • Side or lateral stepping
  • Backward stepping
  • Forward crossover
  • Backward crossover
  • Grapevine

• Open Grid/Ladder:
  • Starting at the bottom, facing the width of the grid, move: R to L to Forward step; L to R to Forward step
  • Starting at the side, facing the length of the grid, move: Step forward into with L/R Sideways step L / R ; backward step L/R; Sideways step L / R ; forward into with L/R etc.
  • Starting at the top, back to the width of the grid, move: R to L to Backwards Step; L to R to Backwards Step

• Closed Grid/Ladder:
  • Starting at the bottom, facing the width of the grid, move forwards:
    • In 2
    • Out 2
    • In 2
    • Out 2
  • Lead first with the right foot then repeat leading with the left foot.

When beginning an agility ladder program, start with 2 to 4 drills and once you master these, then introduce new drills.

Conclusion

Now that Babs has greatly increased her balance, agility and confidence she is working on her pass interception skills and rehearsing her post-touchdown ball spike.

Go, Babs, go!

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