Are you grounded? Having stability when you’re working out is very important for various reasons. One reason is to distribute the forces that go through your body so that one specific area is not taking all the load. Another reason is to anchor the body and prepare it for the movement that will occur so that the movement can perform at its best.
Stability will be attained differently depending on the movement or task which you wish to accomplish. For example, lifting a weight over your head, jumping, balancing on one leg, or just plain ole walking share basic aspects of stability that is general to all types of movement, but each of these movements also have their own unique requirements in order for stability to be attained and maintained while performing movement.
In general, stability is attained by maintaining your center of gravity over your base of support. But your base of support changes constantly based on the movement you are performing and/or the weight you are lifting. Fortunately, the muscles in your body respond reflexively to counter these sudden changes so that we attain and maintain some sort of stability.
Stability is also affected by each individual joint. When viewing a movement in its entirety it’s easy to miss how each joint in the movement affects the other. A movement may appear to be stable, but upon further examination there can be a joint that is not as stable as the others in the movement. This instability actually affects the movement as a whole and prevents the movement from becoming efficient and performing at its best.
To optimize stability while performing movement, the above things mentioned must be taken into consideration along with other variables so that performance is increased while at the same time minimizing risk of injury. One of these variables is posture. Postural positioning affects and is inter-related with stability. If your posture is poor, you are actually less stable.
What are you waiting for? Be Grounded. Start exercising to improve your movement and become more stable. I can help.
