The Tandem Stance
This is a simple exercise that is valuable for everyone from athletes to adults.
- Stand with your feet in "tandem" one foot directly in front of the other.
- Focus on something in front of you, looking straight ahead.
- Slowly rotate your head side to side as if you are saying "no" while maintaining your balance.
- Do this ten times. Repeat while nodding your head up and down, as if to say "yes", while maintaining your balance.
If this is easy, then try to repeat the same exercises with your eyes closed. This exercise is beneficial because it addresses several key issues of balance: proprioception (sense of joints in space), vestibular (the balance system in your brain) and vision and its role in balance.
Jim Flood, MSPT is co-owner of Personally Fit, a fitness/physical therapy center located in Rancho Bernardo. He has been in clinical practice for over 20 years. He can be reached at jflood@ personallyfitonline.com