How to work on your balance
What do NYC subway riders have as an advantage on the rest of the world? Or, really, any subway, metro, MAX, or tube riders? Consider the environment: You’re standing on a flat surface, and sometimes there are lots of people around, and sometimes you have the option to hang onto something, and sometimes you don’t. It’s completely unpredictable. The subway sways form side to side, and stops suddenly. It is an relatively unsteady surface to constantly navigate, and you must have both feet firmly planted on the floor. You do not have have the luxury of favoring one side of their body and popping out one hip or the other, as we see people do all the time.
What happens if you do?
You fall over.
Some people blame this on age, or assume balance problems are a result of aging.
See how my niece Fifi has more weight on her right leg, and her left leg is bent? She’s not weighting both hips equally, and if she was riding the subway, she would fall over and lose her balance.
Does she have balance issues? She’s 11.
So we can’t blame age.
Hmm.
No, it’s actually letting one hip do all the work and unloading one hip as the bigger issue.
This is a very key concept to grasp: weighting both feet equally, so that both hips work equally. Everyone has a stronger hip and a less strong hip, but the more you can catch yourself favoring one side and fix it by EQUALIZING them, the better off you will be.
This also allows for better biomechanics as you are just walking around. That is another advantage New Yorkers – and other big city occupants -have over the driving populations of the world. They walk more. They move more. Movement is a natural part of their day, not something artificially infused via a one hour trip to the gym.
I wish I was a big city girl, for the walking that you naturally do. Unfortunately, I am not.
However, wanna have fun with the balance stuff and replicate the riding the subway or waterskiing? Watch the video below and see what I use to make that happen! You will HAVE to use both sides of your body- BOTH HIPS EQUALLY- to be successful.
Give it a whirl and let me know in the comments below your experiences!
