So today’s title is a bit of a play on words because it’s about proprioception as well as professional athletes.
If you want to get anywhere in life, you have to find balance. But the best way to get it is a little unorthodox and not really what you would normally see athletes doing with barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, and any other equipment you associate with athletics.
I personally found in college that the best thing for balance was ballet (!!!)
Like With A Tutu?!?
No, luckily I didn’t have to wear any ill-fitting clothes, in fact, I actually wore my track outfit to class and felt pretty relieved with the fact that I could wear pants (after all I was in college and in a room full of women in tight clothes…)
NE hoo…let’s get to the good stuff.
What I learned in ballet is that everything in life is all a matter of angles and inches. For instance, if you turn your foot slightly when moving, it can completely change your whole center of gravity. It’s with this awareness that I went from a pretty decent athlete to a 6x All-American.
So How Do You Improve Your Pro?
Simple things like standing on one leg can help drastically improve your balance. You wouldn’t believe how many people walk through my doors and can’t stand on one leg. It’s kinduva mazing…
But what’s even more amazing is how fast they get strong when we start working on things like calf raises and exercises that help you stabilize your hips like fire hydrants or leg lifts.
Like I said, it may not seem significant, but just about every professional athlete has experience working their proprioceptors. It’s not the most glamorous part of your workouts, but it’s probably one of the most important aspects of your training if you want to prevent injuries.
So put those weights down and discover what it’s like to move your body with balance, strength, grace, and most importantly, injury free.
Jerry “Baryshnikov” Washington
P.S. Unfortunately, it’s not a foolproof method. Less than a decade ago I fell hard on some ice. Like real hard! So hard in fact, that I dislocated my ankle and broke my leg. I remember being so upset, but I recovered super ultra fast because I was doing my proprioception work almost immediately after I took off my cast. I was mud races 4 months after I broke it and I was winning powerlifting championships a year after the whole ordeal. Milk doesn’t even do a body that good. So remember, keep practicing your balance and if you have any questions about how to do it, you know where to find me. Talk soon…
