Regaining Your Balance Through StairClimbing

Stairclimbing is a great tool to improve balance, core strength and stability through the major joints and muscles of the body.

This blog will explore some of the concepts in regards to improving balance through a regular stairclimbing routine.

In the body having proper balance is determined by two factors:

1) The stability of the joints
2) The strength and stability of the core musculature (abdominals, lower back)

Many people have varying amounts of balance difficulties. By incorporating stairclimbing into their daily activities, an improvement of balance will be considerable.

To really understand how stairclimbing can help improve balance we must take a look at the center of the body, the hips, abdominal muscles and lower back muscles. This area is primarily responsible for keeping the body in an upright position.

The hips act as a stabilizer for the whole entire body. If the hips are misaligned then the body becomes imbalanced and this is where we see major balance issues come into play.

For example the hips can either be rotated slightly forward, backward or rotated to the left or ride side. The pictures below show examples of both:





Stairclimbing is a great tool to improve imbalances in the hip. The act of climbing stairs two at a time will help in re-align the hips back to a neutral position. The participant must make sure to really focus on keeping the hips as straight as possible and climbing with the "heel strike" technique. This will help the participant in addressing the muscular imbalances around the hip joint which will help in re-aligning the hip to neutral position. Once the hip is in a neutral position then there will be a marked improvement in balance.

Stability in the Joints

The stability of the joint really refers to the amount of supporting muscle tissue around the joint. If muscle development is insufficient around the joint, the joint will become instable leading to balance issues.

Stairclimbing is a great tool to increase the amount of lean muscle in the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and glutes (Butt muscle)

Once there is sufficient muscle around these joints, the joints become more stable and improved balance will follow.

To improve your balance join one of our meet-up groups in you city!

Trevor Folgering
Founder
The Canada StairClimbing Association
1-877-51-CLIMB