It's a question of balance

[catallus]

Hey now!

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a problem I have. On average, I workout about 5 days a week - 4 of these are well-balanced with stretches, core, bench, dumbbells and the heavy bag (switching it up to keep the muscles guessing); one day is stretching and the heavy bag.

I am up to 40 minutes at a time on the heavy bag and I am happy with the power, speed, stamina and "ground attack" - my problem is:

I can't jump
I can't dance
and that's because
I got no balance....

I can't seem to maintain balance while performing my kicks, I'll snap two kicks off and I'm falling over. I am the proverbial bull in the china shop - no matter how often I practice my kicks and combos. Is this an issue with stabilizer muscles? Do I have stabilizer muscles or did I ruin my equilibrium during my drink/drug use tenure?

Between work and college I do not have time for a gym with an instructor - does anybody have any tricks, routines, exercises or advice as to how I can strengthen my balance?

[Ghostly]

IMHO balance during kicking usually has more to do with flexibility and position than strength. If you don't believe me watch people that are talented at kicking. They almost always have decent, if not great, flexibility, and many don't have a lot of muscle. It would be great if you could get some basic instruction on kicks (assuming you haven't).

If you are determined to add strength do squats and lunges. Wall sits. Also, do an exercise where you hold your leg in the final position of a kick for several seconds. So for example, with a side kick, extend and hold as high as you can for 30 seconds. Rest and repeat. Do this with various kicks.

Good luck.

[catallus]

Hi Ghostly,

Thanx for the reply. Maybe I shouldn't have said "strengthen my balance," I know it's not about more strength - I need to do something to improve my balance.

I have tried (and still try) holding a kick in position, but I still just cannot maintain balance on one leg/foot for a decent length of time - and it's been this way for a while.

I am not out to add more strength to my program, but is there anything I can do to help with increasing my balancing ability? I'll double check on the feet placement, but I think I am correct in that. In your opinion, could this be a core issue?

Hmmm, I know it's difficult for you to determine something without actually seeing anything, but I do appreciate your time and possible direction to go.

Thanx

[BennyHill]

catallus,

Hi. You might want to try Tai Chi or yoga for your balance issue. Both of these will definitely help. You can learn from a school or the internet, and you don't have to go that often to improve balance.

Good luck!

[Ghostly]

Cattalus - Have you tried balancing against a wall while holding the kick? Put one hand (opposite of leg kicking) against the wall, or couch and extend opposite leg.

A lot of kicking problems are flexibility issues. Work on stretching every day. Do dynamic and static stretches every other day respectively. The power of kicks come from the hips. People that have kicking issues frequently have hips that don't open up. Work that as part of your stretching. Butterfly stretches as a routine part of your static stretches, hip looseners on dynamic days. I really think if you get those hips opened up you will see good results.

Other than that, practice and make sure you are practicing correctly. It's not just feet placement either. Upper body is important. I bet you can find a lot of good (and bad) instruction for free on the net.

[catallus]

Nice, thanx guyz!

@ BennyHill: I've heard of these before, but I never would have remembered them. I seem to remember Tai Chi as slow, deliberate movement - and yoga, I never would've associated with balance, I thought that was more breathing/meditation orientated. I'll check them out, thank you.

@ Ghostly: My bag is not by a wall, but sometimes I put an opposite hand on the bag while kicking - but that limits movement (maybe the hip issue). I do stretch, but there's always room for improvement. I didn't know there were dynamic and static stretches, and I bet I could use more hip stretching - at least now I have an idea of what to look for; thank you.

Thanx guyz, you gave me some important info to investigate I didn't have, I appreciate your time.

[Seared]

Balance is a very important step in weightlifting, and probably the first step in learning to kick.

• Stand on one foot for 30 seconds, then switch. Try not to wobble.
• Too easy? Put your hands at your sides. Then try it with your eyes closed.
• Build a balance board: How To Build a Balance Board
• The above one take some effort to build, and is rather difficult. Try just nailing a piece of plywood to a 4x4 (and maybe some support depending on how heavy you are). When you get better, take a scraper or file, and round off the edges of the 4x4 to make it tougher.
• Completely alternate direction, Wii Fit has a lot of cool balance games.

[catallus]

Thanx Seared,

I'll give it a go..