Finding balance and New Year’s resolutions
by Mara Brenner
Sunday, January 10 2010, As seen in The Flying Shingle

In sport as in life, overcompensation in one area weakens another; if you eat too much chocolate, you’ll have no room for veggies, for example. Balance is essential, not only for staying upright on a downhill slope, but also for injury-free functioning throughout regular everyday life. At this time of year the New Year’s resolutions are flying and positive attitudes are in the air. These resolutions often involve love, nutrition, and our physical well being. Perhaps a good way to kill a few of these birds with one stone would be to generalize your resolution. You can do this by resolving to create more balance in your life.

As a fitness professional, I wouldn’t attempt to council you about love but here are a few tips that can help you enjoy more physical balance in your life. (Which may very well help in all other areas!)

Simply put, muscular imbalances can directly affect performance and lead to injury. We need to have balance around our joints, balance between the strength in the upper and lower body, and balance between our abdominals and our back. For example, an imbalance between strong quadriceps and weak hamstrings, short adductors (inner thigh muscles) that limit range of motion and tight calf muscles all combine to place strain on the knee joint. Knee joints take a lot of abuse especially this time of year, as they act as shock absorbers on downhill ski runs, so it is not surprising that the knee is the most common site for injuries in this area. In order to improve your muscular balance and reduce your risk of injury to this joint, you need to strengthen muscles and improve the flexibility (lengthen) of the appropriate muscles and ligaments.

You can do this most effectively with the help of a skilled fitness professional; whether it be a kinesiologist, yoga, pilates or dance instructor.

As a teacher of private and group Pilates and Dance classes I focus on the core as the connector or balance point between the upper and lower body. It is your power centre - when it is weak, you lose vital energy in the limbs and also suffer with a sore back. When it’s strong, you redirect weight out of your knees and align your shoulders thus alleviating neck pain.

Practicing Pilates will educate your mind and body on its proper posture, alleviating back pain and literally helping you to balance which becomes more and more important as you age and falls become a concern.

Whether you’re balancing your chequebook, your diet, your outlook on life or your fitness level, remember to set goals that are achievable and find ways to make them as fun as possible. That’s a sure recipe for success.

Good news for the kids and teens - we’re having a show at the Phoenix in February so don’t miss this session of Ballet, Creative dance and Musical theatre. New for the Adults - Pilates Circuit Training!

If you’re interested in learning more about Pilates and Dance for all ages, check out my web site at www.maragoldtheatre.com or call Gabriola Dance and Pilates at 8538.