Though it’s easy to label someone who frequently slips, trips, falls and/or knocks into things as being “clumsy,” there is usually more to the story than that. While it’s possible that their main problem is not looking where they’re going or paying attention to their surroundings, a large part of being steady on your feet involves balance and vision (like peripheral vision and depth perception).
The good news is that there are things you can to do decrease your chances of falling—including working on your balance. The bad news is that it does take some effort. Here’s what to know about improving your balance, in the hopes that it will reduce wintertime slips and spills, and come courtesy of a recent article by Jane E. Brody in The New York Times.
What to know about balance and falling
We should start by acknowledging that Brody’s article focuses on improving balance and decreasing the risk of falling for older adults (who do have a higher mortality rate from falls). But really, these balance strategies are beneficial at any age (especially during winter). Plus, the tips in the article come from George Locker, author of the book Falling Is Not an Option: A Way to Lifelong Balance.
Locker trademarked an approach he calls “postural retraining,” which draws on lessons from martial arts and uses a series of postures and movements to work on a person’s stability. It’s tricky, though, because postural muscles are internal and their development isn’t visible, the way it would be for a bicep, for example. Instead, it’s the same kind of mental-focus used when learning how to ride a bicycle. We’ll let Brody and Locker explain:
In an interview, [Locker] said, “Balance is not about moving, thinking about it, being athletic or strong.” Nor is it subject to willful control. Rather, it is something the body learns to do automatically by engaging the postural muscles. Given the amount of sitting most of us do these days, “the postural muscles literally forget how to maintain balance, even on steady, level surfaces,” he wrote.
How to train your postural muscles
The key, according to Locker, is to use your own body weight, bending your knee and ankle, and transferring your weight from your back leg to your front leg—the same type of balance required for ice skating or paddle boarding.
One way to practice doing this is to get used to walking on uneven surfaces. While there are other health benefits from hitting the pavement, assuming that the sidewalk is relatively smooth, it doesn’t pose a challenge to your postural muscles. Walking on uneven surfaces—like outdoor trails, or other places where you really have to pay attention to where and how you’re walking—on the other hand, engages your postural muscles and over time, helps improve your balance and stability.