If there is any profession that demands our body to be at its optimal levels of health, then it has to be that of a sportsperson. Even the tiniest injury can result in a lower performance of the body thereby affecting the sports performance directly. And if you consider athletes today, and go through studies and records of the types of injuries that athletes usually suffer from, you will find that ankle sprains are certainly the most common injuries among them. Ankle sprains Are known to be more common among basketball and soccer players.
The moment an athlete ends up straining his or her ankle or the stretched ligaments beyond that safe range when it comes to motion, they are instantly exposed to a higher risk of ending up with another sprain.
Ankle sprains do not really occur intentionally. It is extremely difficult to steer clear from because it could be a result of a missed step, a trip of or an uneven ground. Ankle sprains are generally a result of lack of strength in your lower limbs, if you do not have a healthy flexibility or endurance – all of these are mainly a result of lack of body balance. The exact words for this would be proprioception.
What is proprioception?
It is nothing but the body’s ability to move through a particular space without having the need to feel or see all the aspects of the movement. You can also call it the sixth sense. We are able to navigate and move around an environment as though we inherently know where exactly our limbs are, or our weight and centre of gravity can be defined at that moment in time.
And friend friend for joint, it tends to lose proprioception. The joint becomes unstable and it gives up. Performing proprioceptive exercises will help a body relearn how to control the joint position on its own. When a joint gets present, it tends to lose proprioception. The joint becomes unstable and it gives up. Performing proprioceptive exercises will help a body relearn how to control the joint position on its own. These types of exercises form a very common component of rehabilitation that is provided to injured athletes.
Maintaining a good balance is vital for runners as they tend to experience very minute deviations in their terrains. Proprioception exercises will help runners make that slight balance adjustments when there are slight deviations on the terrain therefore avoiding an occurrence of an injury.
Why we should consider improving balance to avoid ankle sprain
When a routine based on well-rounded balance is introduced, athletes gain strength in their hips, core, and also stabilize their ankles which helps in avoiding injuries like ankle sprains. It is not just beneficial for Sportspersons like athletes but for any person who constantly worries about falling, Tripping, or their balance.
You see, balance is considered to be a basic skill that is required for every sport practically. From rock climbing to tennis to soccer, you need to be capable of adjusting your centre of gravity in order to match every move that plays a key role in the sport. In other words the technical term for this is agility.
It is agility that helps you move around gracefully by investing very little motion. It helps a joints to slide and move through a varied range of motion confidently.
There was a particular study conducted in the year 2006 at the University of Wisconsin that shows how introducing a well balanced and structured routine lead to a decrease in the cases of ankle sprains. The study considered nearly 700 high school basketball and soccer players. They were divided into two groups, one group was given a very specific balance routine to perform every single day progressively. The second group was handed over a traditional exercise schedule that only conditions the body without the balance training but added to it. The end of the season of sports, the group that had been performing balance exercises every single day had fewer ankle sprains than the other group.
Most of us feel balance exercises are very difficult and can be frustrating to perform but that’s not the truth. Most of the time we as people tend to attend exercises that are bodies and not ready to perform and when we do not succeed in performing the exercise is the right way we get frustrated. We need to understand that balance is all about gaining control over the chaos and the stimulus that a body throws in order to find that centre alignment or centre of gravity.
What are the benefits of balance exercises?
We already know one benefit that balancing skills or performing balancing exercises reduces our risk of developing an ankle sprain. However, that is more than justice, the other benefits include:
- Balancing exercises helps intoning the different parts of our body such as lower back, glutes, oblique’s, thighs, and hips.
- Working on the overall balance of the body will improve our overall body coordination.
- It will help in improving or walking and running technique as we gain control over the centre of gravity.
You can begin with basic balance exercises such as single leg stand, single leg squat, single leg stand with your eyes lost, or single next time with your swings. Always remember to perform exercises from basic beginner level and then slowly move towards advanced exercises.
