Balance training & resistance training: Who should combine the 2 & when does it actually make sense?

The fitness industry is unique in the sense that, unlike the the rest of the wellness field that includes doctors, & registered dietitians, our portion of the field is unregulated. In way that’s a good thing. It allows us be to creative, and use our own style and personality. I work amongst a team of trainers which I think are all great in their own regard. But we’re all different in our approach, and specialties. And theres a market out there for all of us. Then theres the downside to the fact that the fitness industry is unregulated.

Most aspiring personal trainers take a similar path, which is get a certification and get started. Currently , there are no laws that require such certification to work as a personal trainer ( although most box gyms require it for insurance purposes). This is very much unlike the rest of the health/ wellness industry which requires professionals to be licensed, with years of schooling and supervised application. And the downside of an unregulated industry creates room for some less than ideal practice based on great marketing.

Unstable surface training started in rehabilitation programs with physical therapists training clients with lower body/ ankle injuries. And it spilled into the general fitness world soon after. Various balance training modalities have us challenging ourselves with exercise we’d normally do of flat surfaces like squats, and pushes and pulls. And it’s definitely more challenging to do. And there was research done to support this kind of unstable surface training.

Proponents of unstable surface training says that the lack of stability cause the deep core muscular to fire creating what’s called a “proprioceptively enriched environment” ( in short, you’ve gotta balance).

Top kinesiology graduate of Uconn, Eric Cressey, examined the research that supported unstable surface training. What was noticed:

• It all used sedentary individuals
• A short training cycle
• Injury history wasn’t accounted for

Obviously, if a group of people who aren’t working out start any form or training they’d get a positive adaptation.

So Cressey conducted his own research with athletes with similar injury history, and athletic backgrounds in 2 groups. One group did their training regiment on unstable surfaces. The other group did the same regiment on stable surfaces. The the 2 groups were tested amongst various movements : Jumping assessment, sprints of 40 and 10 yards, and agility assessments for 10 weeks. An emg/ muscle nerve test was conducted following which measures muscle and electrical response to a nerve’s stimulation of a muscle Ie: who got stronger.

Both groups showed improvement, but the group that trained on stable surfaces was significantly stronger across the board.

So what about all this balance training? Lets start with this. Think about how anything we’d do can transfer over to real life application. Squats transfer over to real life. So do deadlifts, and pushing and pull movements. But when’s the last time you had to do so with a rubbery surface under your feet that’s moving ( I’m a California boy. We do get a lot of earthquakes out here, So I understand the push -back as far as that goes).

Balance is all about maintaining equilibrium amongst resistance. Equilibrium is about keeping our center of gravity over our base of support. In short, balance is about being strong in all planes of motion. So get strong!