Balance and stability instruction can be used to help prevent injuries and falls. Increasing functional fitness can help improve balance and stability as well as flexibility and agility. Functional fitness exercises can be performed in a gym or with in home training. Balance and stability instructional exercises can also vary from person to person depending on your current level of fitness and your personal goals.
Using functional fitness to help prevent falls is common with senior citizens and individuals who are recovering from an injury where falling could be a big risk factor. Personal trainers will use stability exercises to help prevent overuse injury and increase balance. A personal trainer coach can help you create a training plan that protects and strengthens joint movement.
Popular balance and stability exercises include core work. The core helps to balance and keep good form while exercising in addition to having good posture, which protects the lower back. Core work can be done with weights or using your own weight as resistance. Stability ball crunch movements are great exercises to increase functional core strength and balance. Plank holds and variations of the plank can also provide increased functional fitness.
Lunges and squats are great moves to help build strength around the joints, increasing balance and stability. These moves can be done alone, using your own body weight as resistance, or you can add dumbbells, a kettlebells or barbell to make it more challenging. The important factor is to keep good form. It is better to go with little or no added weights and keep perfect form than to add resistance and do the exercise incorrectly. Performing any exercise incorrectly can increase your risk of injury and can also decrease the effectiveness of the move itself.
Single leg stands are also a great way to build stability and prevent falls. Single leg stands focus on balance and core strength to execute correctly. Toes touches are another exercise that increases flexibility and can help prevent falls. Your joints will gain greater mobility and flexibility as you build functional fitness. Balance and stability instruction are perfect for those needing to work on functional fitness training to help prevent falls and injury.
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