Dynamic vs. Static Balance - By Eric Ward, March 2006
PRESS DYNAMIC VS. STATIC BALANCE. MARCH, 2006
Dynamic vs. Static Balance
Dynamic balance vs. static balance, is what makes the Shim Balance System™ work. In our program we look at the body in motion, as opposed to looking at the body standing still. Standing on one foot is what makes this happen.
IF you stand on one foot, the foot and ankle moves, compare this to what happens while standing on two feet, the difference is clear.
During One footed balance, many things are happening all at once. Muscles contract and relax involuntarily to move the skeleton into balance. The proprioceptive, or onboard computer system maintains balance by analyzing the info that is being sent to the brain from all parts of the body. The end result is sustained one footed balance. We stand up and walk on two legs but to do this we actually need to be able to balance on one foot at a time.
Simple dynamic balance testing can be used to identify certain structural biases within the foot. These symptoms are common among about 80% of humans. You might have been told that you are either a pronator, or a suppinator. Well the truth is that, while in dynamic balance you are both pronating and suppinating.
Let’s break this down; a dynamic balancing cycle is like this. There are three components of your leg and foot: Bones, muscles, and connective tissues. Pronation, the act of the foot collapsing to the big toe side is an act of skeletal collapse. Meaning that if we were to take a skeleton leg and foot and stand it up on a table it would fall toward the big toe side every time. Structurally almost all humans would experience this. Obviously, some much more than others.
Now, the act of rolling the foot towards the little toe side is called supination. Any amount of movement in this direction requires muscular contraction of the anterior tibialus. This is the major supinator muscle and runs from the outside of the knee to the arch of the foot. When fired it looks like a pencil across the front of the ankle. It is critical to understand these two factors and how they work to create an understanding of dynamic balance.
While balancing the wiggling that we feel is pronation and supination in action. What you might notice is that you initially fall to the inside just slightly, then immediately make a move toward the little toe and then this is repeated. What you just experienced is a balancing cycle. First the bones collapse, then the muscles recover The system that allows the brain to know when to help and when to stop helping is our proprioceptive network. Muscles and bones communicate through this intricate web of nerves. It is like out internal world wide web. The spinal column can make decisions on our balance, based on information coming from our eyes, ears, and millions of proprioceptors all around our body. Especially present in our hands and feet.
There is a lot to understand and this is just a simple look at our balancing system and what we look at to understand and help people balance better. If you can slow down the amount of structural collapse you will also lessen the need for muscular recovery. This gives you more relaxed foot and ankle, and a better feel for what ever may be underfoot. e.g Ski boots, golf shoes, bike shoes, bowling shoes, ice skates, roller blades, running shoes…