Balance goes hand in hand with stability and is an overarching umbrella skill that transcends components of movement and fitness.
In most sports, especially BJJ in which the body is constantly being reoriented and even flipped upside down, the equilibrium and center of gravity is always being challenged. Knowing this, we must challenge our neuromuscular system by removing a base of support (one-legged balancing and such) while changing the surface with which we are planted.
Below I’ll share a couple of balancing based exercises I love to incorporate into my training. I utilize the BOSU ball in conjunction for a few of them as a way to challenge the balance even more by hitting the stabilizers of the foot all the way up into the hip.
Universal Balance Cues
- Support leg is completely extended
- This can be helped cued by engaging your quadriceps to fully extend knee
- Press big toe down into the ground while engaging glutes
- Feel all 4 corners of the foot dispersing into the ground
- Steady your eyes on a fixed immovable object
BOSU Ball
Use of the Bosu Ball Targets different angles of the foot. It forces you to practice keeping a wide foot to promote balance. If you keep gripping with your feet, you will only tighten that musculature and make it even harder to balance.
The Exercises – End Range Mobility Isometrics
Below are some sample exercises that are “catch-alls.” Remember, I’m a proponent of exercises that give us a lot of benefit at once. With these exercises, you will obviously challenge balance, stability, strength, and your mobility.
And remember, breathing and eye focus are essential for these types of exercises.
Hip Flexion
Hip Extension
Hip Rotations
Final Considerations
Tying balancing exercises into your regimen is a good way to “round out” the edges to your training. You can do these in between sets of more compound lifts or as a primer before exercises that require significant amounts of neural drive.
I’m releasing my first video product and 12 week training program “Secrets to Soft, Stable, Strong, and Supple Low Back/Hips”.
You can find the preorder HERE. It’ll be live for another week before the sale ends.
