Walking the line? My adventures on a balance pad

These days, it seems our weaknesses are mercilessly exposed. «When, in addition to the ankle, we start dealing with the knee and hip – which play an important role in running, especially during the stance phase – working on unstable surfaces is helpful,» says Pascale. As a track and field athlete and physical therapist, she knows where the priorities lie. Previously, she had taught me the basics of running. Build up your arch. Control your toes. Roll off correctly. All little things that can be surprisingly difficult to implement. Together, they allow the ankle joint to pivot in a controlled manner. And now the time has come for me to take a step into unknown – or rather unstable – territory. «On the wooden board, the axis was defined; now, the exercise is multidimensional and we can start focusing on what’s happening further up in the body.» Well, we can at least attempt all that, I think to myself.

The only thing I know for sure is that I can’t fake my way through this. Much like you can't fake your way through life. «This simulates real-life situations, which you can’t directly control,» explains Pascale. «When you’re jogging in the woods, you can’t always look at the ground either – you have to react to any changes.» Unstable ground reveals the stability of your system from the foot to the knee to the hip and even further up. At least we’re starting in an organised fashion before the chaos is introduced to my body.

Exposed through a one-leg stand

«This is a good way to expose your standard reaction,» Pascale explains as we step onto an Airex mat while standing on one leg. «Some always fall outward, others tip inward.» I bend both ways, swaying and twisting initially like a reed in the wind. «It’s also okay if you hold on a little bit,» Pascale tells me. «With one or two fingers and only when necessary.» In the beginning, I find myself repeatedly thinking a wall or pole would be useful to get my swaying body under control and to stand roughly like I’m supposed to. «You also have to try to hold your arch on the mat instead of clawing into it with your toes, despite the unstable surface.» It is difficult to maintain focus when there’s so much to correct.

Tips:

• Do not claw at the mat with your toes. Use your toes for fine-tuning only. The majority of your weight should be distributed on the hind foot and ball of the toe.
• Notice any tendencies you may have: do you always lose balance toward the same one side?
• Instead of the Airex cushion, you can start practising with a regular yoga mat to make things a bit easier.

Tap, tap, balance

We stand in front of the mirror, which is always a good idea to improve control. It also helps keep your eyes off the floor. Once I’ve managed to balance myself, Pascale helps me with the first exercise, which also serves as a trap. «If you combine the single-leg stand with a tap, where you alternate touching the ground with your foot at the front and back, this will help you briefly orient yourself in the room.» While this is helpful on the one hand, it does also tempt you to use this as a means of saving yourself. «Your centre of gravity must always remain on the leg you’re using to stand on the mat,» Pascale cautions. «Your other leg isn’t supposed to carry any weight, it just briefly touches the ground. This is a preparatory exercise for running, where your stance leg needs to be stable and your free leg functions independently of the rest of your body.»

Tips:

• Perform the exercise not only to the front and back, but also to the sides.
• Don’t actually put your foot down; only tap the floor in a controlled fashion.
• You can make things even more difficult and enhance the effect of the unstable ground by closing your eyes.

Buckling feet and the mechanical axis

In order to stand a chance on the unstable ground, you have to get a bunch of things right in your body. You’re more likely to succeed if you’re aware of potential things to watch out for and don’t fall into unhealthy habits. «It makes sense to look at the mechanical axis of your leg beforehand, too,» Pascale says. «That’s to say, how you stand or how you should be standing – before you get on the mat.» Your foot shouldn’t be clawing into the ground; instead, it should be stable with a proper arch. Even if it’s theoretically clear what the foot can and should do, problems often start at the very base.

By now, having a proper arch should be second nature to me, as evidenced by Pascale giving me even more pointers. «You also have to make sure your kneecap isn’t pointing completely inward, but toward your second toe – without carrying the weight completely on the outside of your foot.» That’s easy to say and hard to do once your gait starts to wobble. «Even if your foot buckles, your knee should stay in line for optimal strength transfer,» Pascale explains. «You do this using your thigh and buttock muscles.» Of course, your torso must also remain nice and still. As you shift your focus from toes to head, things get even trickier. The higher up you focus, the more codependency and the greater the difficulty.

Tips:

• Keep your knee in the axis over your second toe.
• Do not shift your weight to the edge of your foot.

Level two – aka don’t forget your butt

Once I’m able to stay reasonably stable while tapping the ground, we move on to the next level. «Now, we want to coordinate the exercise with the mechanical axis and bend our knees a little more here and there,» I hear Pascale say and think nothing more of it. I can do that. Or can I? It turns out to be quite the mean exercise, at least for my legs.

«Try to keep your weight only on your foot, and keep your heel on the ground as you step forward.» This means that I have to get quite low on my knees to be able to plant my heel on the floor, which is a constant struggle for my entire lower body. It’s a fight that can only be won if the required muscles work together. «If your hip doesn’t cooperate and everything is coming out of your knee, it's extremely difficult and can become painful in the long run,» Pascale says.

Tips:

• To be able to tap the floor with your heel in a controlled manner, you need to bend lower from your knees.
• To overload your knee and keep the centre of gravity above your foot, your hip and buttocks must actively work together.

Sitting down properly and engaging all your muscles is something to take to heart all day every day. «You can offload a lot of work to your hips and glutes when going up and down stairs or even in general, but a lot of people forget that.» My takeaway from today’s lesson is stay stable. And let your hips and butt do more work. As one of the largest muscles in the body, it’s not just good for sitting around.