Precerpt from Grandma's Ninja Training Diary: Balance
Balance was always hard for me, though I loved walking on
the raised edges of sidewalks as a kid—and falling off, getting on again,
falling off again. Not your most graceful "athlete"—no one would
consider me an athlete (and I still don't, just someone initially enamored with
the Ninja Warriors and now staying strong as a 75-year-old single mom of two
disabled adults for whom I am physically and medically responsible.
You might call me clumsy, at least until the U.S. Army got
hold of me. Those morning calisthenics improved everything about my
physicality, including my balance. And the obstacle courses—fun (except for the
6-foot wall—challenging for someone less than 5-feet tall)—really helped with
understanding body and space. Proprioception—that’s the word.
When Brittany got hold of me, she realized that I needed work on balance. Balance integrates proprioception, muscular coordination, and mental focus. She realized I needed help with all of these.
We began with the BOSU ball. I bought one for home. At first,
every step bounced me onto the floor on my butt. I worked up to being able to
do 50 or more squats without landing on my head, along with high steps and lots
of jumping exercises on top of the ball, around the sides of the ball, and
against an overturned ball. Never graceful. Usually quite awkward and clumsy. But completed.
Here are some exercises I do to improve balance:
·
BOSU squats (on the dome side)
- Step-ups
(onto the dome)
- Lateral
hops (side-to-side jumps across the ball)
- BOSU
burpees (using the flat side for push-off)
- Jump
squats (on the dome)
- Single-leg
balance holds (on the dome or flat side)
These days, yes, I can use the BOSU ball. I still have it.
It is actually under the coffee table in the living room. Hidden in plain sight
and always available. But I have to fight three young children for access to
it!
I might not get to the BOSU ball every day, but I do include
balance activities in my morning calisthenics. And I do little things, gentle things, throughout the day for maintenance:
- Dress without hanging onto anything
- Walk on uneven surfaces regularly (if balance were not good, I would not do that!)
- Stand on one leg whenever possible for as long as possible, incorporated into other work (folding clothes, loading the dishwasher, searching for a program on the TV, talking to someone on the phone -- many, many opportunities)
- Pick up things by leaning over on one leg (the other one goes to the sky)
In general, for simplicity, I measure my balance by how long I can stand on one leg. My typical time is 45-60 seconds, yeah, with some wobbling here and there but never a need to stop or put the other foot on the ground. I stopped worrying about the wobbling when I learned that a wobble without collapse means that stabilizing systems (ankle proprioceptors, glute medius, core engagement) are actively correcting micro-instabilities in real time. That’s not just balance—it’s dynamic resilience. So, now when I wobble but don't topple, I smile and say, "Yay! Dynamic resilience at play!)
My best
time was three minutes standing on my left leg alone, but that was best time,
not typical. Still, not bad for a grandma.
Benchmark data:
- Women
age 75: ~26 seconds
- Men
age 75: ~27 seconds
- My typical: 45–60 seconds (depending on good day or bad day!)
- My best: 180 seconds
- Equivalent
age group: ~30–55 years old (depending on good day or bad day!)
Conclusion. The data shows that my balance is above average for both
women and men my age and equivalent to those in the
50–60 age range (my best, granted on a rare occasion, is equivalent to those in the 45-50 age group). Truly cool! I will take that, but I plan to continue working on it -- because I am still clumsy!
To read more precerpts from Grandma's Ninja Training Diary, click HERE.
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