Maintaining one’s body’s center of mass over its base of support is called balance.   We make automatic adjustments to maintain posture and stability in our daily living and work hard to enhance our balance when we are involved in athletics.  Balance is coordinated by several physiological systems.  The vestibular or auditory system located in the inner ear and the visual system, which sends visual signals from the eyes to the brain about our body’s position in relation to its surroundings.  The proprioceptive system uses sensory nerves called proprioceptors located in muscles, tendons and joints, along with the central nervous system, which gives you a kinesthetic sense or an awareness of our body in space. 

Participating in sport, developing skills, conditioning drills, and strength training augments balance.  A strong core stabilizes the spine, pelvis and shoulder girdle and creates a solid base of support to generate powerful movements of the extremities. Besides practice, drills and basic strength training, coaches use stability balls, medicine balls, kettlebells, wobble boards, balance boards, planks, TRX’s, as well as yoga, martial arts,  Pilates, tai chi, and a wide variety of exercises to improve equilibrium during coordinated movements. 

Training the head and neck musculature is extremely important in maintaining and improving balance, often neglected, the area should never be overlooked.

Postural instability can be induced by fatiguing cervical muscle spindles, that is, postural changes can be made by exercising neck muscles, which temporarily affects neck function and balance in a standing posture.

 Pendulum Rack System and Pendulum 5-Way Neck

Improve the ‘balance’ in your training regime by never failing to keep and Get your head and neck Strong.