EFFECTIVE TRAINING FORMAT FOR BODY BALANCE
Balance Boarding: A diverse and effective training format for all ages. Balance Boarding is more than just a trendy and fun sport - it offers a diverse and effective training format that is aimed at a wide range of interests and age groups. As founders of MECOS BOARDS, we are both athletically and entrepreneurially convinced of the effectiveness of our balance board concept.
Our orthopedic expert partner Ricardo Morgado supports balance boarding as the ultimate training format for a wide audience from an orthopedic perspective. Ricardo is the owner of Physiotherapie Atlantico GmbH, an expert in sports science and physical education and former coach of the Swiss men's national handball team as well as the Portuguese national enduro team at the International Enduro Six Days race.
Incorporating balance boarding into your workout routine can be very beneficial for improving balance, coordination and stability. Whether you're a professional athlete, fitness enthusiast or just looking for a fun and effective way to stay active, balance boarding offers a dynamic and versatile training method that can help you achieve your desired goals.
Physiotherapist answers the 8 most important questions:
Balance training: What does it trigger in the body and what prerequisites are needed?
Balance training belongs to the category of proprioceptive training, which involves all of the body's senses. Proprioceptors in muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints send information to the brain to unconsciously perceive the body's position, posture and position and make appropriate adjustments.
Which muscles are used during balance training?
Balance training is not just about training individual muscle groups. Rather, the goal is to promote the cooperation of all senses and the resulting physical reactions. Balance training not only strengthens certain muscle groups, but also improves coordination, stability and body awareness.
Why are balance boards often used in rehabilitation and physiotherapy after injuries?
Proprioceptive training has proven to be an effective method for reducing the risk of injury. For this reason, balance training is particularly suitable for patients with foot and knee injuries who are already fully functional again but still need to work on their fine motor skills. The additional fun factor also makes the training particularly attractive and motivating.
How is a movement sequence transmitted from the brain to the muscles when balancing on the board?
The proprioceptors in the muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints receive sensory information and transmit it to the brain via the alpha motor neuron in the spinal cord. The same path then follows back to the corresponding muscle groups. Not all information reaches the brain; some is already recorded in the spinal cord and transmitted back to the muscles. These processes are part of proprioceptive training and help to improve body awareness and coordination.
How does loss of balance affect the muscles and how do the muscles react to it?
A quick and correct transfer of information is crucial to minimize the risk of injury. Perfect muscle coordination enables flawless movements. Age, nervous diseases and alcohol can impair proprioceptive abilities, so an optimal system is essential. If part of the system no longer works properly, exercises such as balancing can become very difficult.
For which target group is the balance board training suitable?
Age plays a minor role in the ability to perform proprioceptive training. The decisive factor is the proprioceptive skills that are already present. There is no point in putting a young child on a balance board if he or she is not even able to stand on one leg. On the other hand, a fit and coordinated 60-year-old person can very well benefit from balance board exercises.
How often and how long should you do balance training per week for an individual workout?
Proprioceptive training is usually performed in short sets lasting no longer than one minute. It is an intense training method and should be performed daily in several short series to improve proprioception.
Final words : Why do you, Ricardo, rely on balance training for patients in your physiotherapy and what makes this training method so effective?
As a physiotherapist, it is very important for me to offer my patients a variety of different exercises as part of proprioceptive training. The training is mandatory for almost all patients in my practice, as it reduces the risk of subsequent injuries and thus prepares them better for everyday life. After operations, proprioception is quickly lost, which is why balancing is often integrated into the rehabilitation program.
Balancing as a training method is fun for most patients and helps to combine the hard training with a positive experience. For me as a physiotherapist, it is also a gratifying sight when my patients make progress and can improve their proprioceptive skills. Therefore, I recommend doing proprioceptive training such as balancing regularly in short series to maximize the results.
