Let’s talk about balance — not in the figurative sense that has become a focal point in our busy society, but in the literal sense of learning to control your body’s positioning.
Your body seeks balance through every step you take and through every single one of your movements! And while it’s important during exercise, balance is even more important during our everyday lives. If you struggle with balance, you are more likely to fall, which of course increases the risk of injury, spanning from a small skin of the knee to a broken bone or concussion. As you gracefully age, your bones lose strength, which makes it all-the-more important to be intentional about practicing physical balance.
How can balance training help? Simply put, it makes you more in tune to where your body is in space. This is called proprioception. For example, if you close your eyes and raise your arm out to the side, you know via proprioception that it really is out to the side. By taking time to practice balance, your regular workout routine becomes more well-rounded and your body can adjust quickly if you get knocked off your center of gravity. And, it’s also a good idea to keep your brain and body guessing so that you don’t plateau or get used to a certain exercise!
What is it?
Our Better Balance Program is made up of three key videos that fuse instruction with follow-along routines. The videos will guide you through strengthening your ankles and legs, developing balance, improving coordination, and increasing core strength. Led by Jenna Ellis, PT, this program was designed to help you increase balance, stability, mobility, and control – and, by extension, improve your everyday movements.
This program will help you:
- Learn your body’s proprioception (or where a body part is in space)
- Learn how to adjust and recover if you lose your center of gravity
- Maintain balance during everyday movements
- Increase ankle, leg, and core strength
Is this program for you?
This program was designed for anyone who wants to...
- improve their balance, core stability, strength and/or mobility
- decrease their risk of injury from falls
- follow an easy daily routine with guided support to increase balance
What to expect:
Like our other programs, the Balance series includes three videos. The videos range from 21 to 23 minutes long and increase in difficulty.
Video One is the Beginner video that zeroes in on proprioception, Video Two is an Intermediate level that adds in more head and body movements so your legs have to work harder to balance, and Video Three is the Advanced video that further challenges your balance by reducing your vision (as in, you’ll be moving with your eyes closed!).
Since each video builds upon the video(s) before it, we encourage you to go in order and progress onwards once you feel strong and proficient with each video. The instructor, our resident physical therapist, encourages you to take your time with this series. Make sure you are comfortable and confident before moving onto the next video. If you just stay with video one for a month or two, that is completely fine! All three videos have different levels of difficulty depending on where you are in your fitness journey.
Listen to your body, set your own pace, and do what feels right for you.
How much time will it take?
The videos in this program range from 21 to 23 minutes long.
To make the correct form stick, build and maintain strength, and really reap the benefits of this program, we recommend you do these routines daily or every other day. You need to convince your body to change by repeating the correct movement over and over until it becomes normal!
The three videos are meant to go in order, but there is no set pace. You may choose to advance to Video 2 after a month or you may find you feel ready to move on after a week. Ultimately you have to check in with yourself and progress when it feels right.
How to get started:
Please consult your healthcare professional before you begin any new program.
For this program, you’ll need is a Primal 7 system, a chair for balance support, a yoga mat to stand on if you’d like more of a challenge (optional), and the four videos below:
Balance Program Introduction Video
About our Instructor:
Jenna Ellis is a Physical Therapist. Throughout her ten-year career, she has specialized in orthopedics, post-op surgical patients and young athletes. Jenna has also worked in the homecare setting and loves getting people of all ages back to the game of life. Prior to becoming a Physical Therapist, she was an Athletic Trainer working with high school and college-level athletes.
Jenna obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Medicine Athletic Training from the University of South Florida in 2007 and then went on to graduate from the University of Central Florida with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2010.
You can learn more about Jenna here.
We’re listening.
We hope that our Upper Body Program and Lower Body Program help you not only gain strength, but also improve your everyday movements and Conquer Your Can’t. We’d love to hear about your progress and are always open to suggestions as to what we can do to make our programs better. Whether you want to share an update, request a new program, or give us feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out.
You can email us at info@primal7.com or call us at 512-899-2054.