Balance and Your Health as a Mom

As a mom, you’re likely running around all day tending to the needs of your family while also trying to fit in a solid day’s work. Whether you have a half hour or a couple of hours to devote to physical fitness, it is important to set aside a portion of your day to foster an active lifestyle. One way to achieve a physical and emotional well-being is to practice your ability to balance and strengthen your core. The role of balance when it comes to your active lifestyle is an important one; without it, you will lose coordination in everything from sports to everyday hobbies like golf or gardening.

Balance Equals Agility

When you maintain good balance techniques, you can achieve greater success in your fitness routines, daily exercises, and sports with a blend of coordination, agility and balance, according to Revolution Balance Boards. Why do you need balance? As an active mom, you must be able to change direction quickly, and coordinate your movement accurately and consistently. Whether you’re running to the school to pick up your children, walking down the hall in your home, or doing yoga at the local studio, balance is a crucial component of any daily activity. As a mom with lots of activities to juggle, it’s even more essential to hone this balancing skill.

Honing Balance

In order to engage in proprioception, the sense of how your body is positioned, you must work on maintaining stability so that you can not only react promptly to a change in direction, but also avoid getting hurt during your workout. This involves strengthening your core muscles. When your core muscles, all the muscles in your torso, are weak, it can be troublesome to perform even the most rudimentary of tasks, such as bending down to pick up your child, doing housework, performing well on the job, and participating in any kind of sport, says Harvard Medical School. A strong core means you can increase your stability and balance. This translates to a reduced rate of injury and an improved reaction time to outside stimuli. Moms need this balance even when standing still, for household chores or athletic activities alike. It helps to coordinate in group sports, or individual ones like racquetball and swimming. By increasing your balance, you can also decrease your prevalence for lower back pain, which affects nearly 65 million Americans, according to ShareCare.

Balance Solutions

Do your part to increase your balance ability by performing simple balance exercises every day. A fitness balance board, in particular, is a great tool for practicing, and can challenge even the most uncoordinated of moms to help develop a stronger core and great posture. Using the balance board, try some crunches to strengthen abs and other core muscles. Place the board under your lower back while lying down, lifting your head on the exhale and lowering it on the inhale. Oblique twists can work the side muscles, so hold a medicine ball while standing on the balance board. Twist side to side with your face forward at all times. Try some squats by standing straight on the board, thrusting your hips forward and putting your arms up. Squat and straighten, holding each position for up to 20 seconds.

All you need is 20 minutes a day of balance activities, and you’ll soon notice a striking difference in your core muscles and your ability to balance. Then you’ll be ready to tackle any challenge!