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Or maybe you just exercise to feel good and stay healthyall arevalid motivationsfor breaking a sweat.
Amber Venerable
But another huge benefit of exercise you may not think about is how it improvesyour balance.
Any workout move you do requires some level of balanceto even just walk you better have basic balancing abilities.
The core is often referred to as the powerhouse of your body.
It’s also your balance center.
Having astrong coreallows you to control your body’s positioning and maintain an upright position.
Your back and chest play a role here, too.
All of these muscles are important for bothpostureand stability.
“Basically anything that challenges your center of gravity will improve your balance,” Darby says.
Balance work is also great for bodily awareness.
The best way to use these balance-based moves?
Choose a few to add to yourwarm-up.
Below, Darby demos seven exercises that are great for challenging and improving your balance skills.
Standing Crunch With Under-the-Leg Clap
“Balancing on one leg is challenging in itself.
To make this harder, hold light to medium weights.
To make it easier, lower your leg to the ground when you clap overhead.
To make this harder, hold light to medium weights.
To make it easier, alternate sides.
To make this harder, bring your feet closer together.
To make it easier, open your feet wider or do the sequence on all fours.
To make this harder, lift the top leg before rolling to the opposite side.
To make it easier, place your bottom knee on the ground.
By adding moving arms on top of that, your core strength and balance are further challenged.
To make this harder, bend the knees deeper and/or choose heavier weights.
To make it easier, lower your heels in between each arm movement, and/or ditch the weights.
To make this harder, keep your arms extended out to the sides and hold medium to heavy weights.
