Exercise of the Month....Stability Training

Over the last few years stability training has taken the social media by storm. It has been a part of physical therapy for a very long time, and with the “functional” training combining parts of PT and strength training, some people took it out of context. One thing that some still struggle with is understanding the terminology and what exactly “functional” training is. It relates to specificity, and it is exactly what it states! Ex. For a power-lifter, dead-lift is a functional exercise…for a basketball player, box jump is functional, for a boxer, jumprope is functional…makes sense? You may see people doing heavy dumbbell press while laying on the swiss ball in an attempt to build strength, or heavy squatting on balance disks… please stop! Ask your self what the purpose of the exercise is, if its strength gain then get rid of the balance component, or if its for injury prevention get rid of the heavy weight and work on stabilizing. Best advice that we can give you is to speak to a knowledgeable person in this field (either physical therapist, or a strength coach). Here are some common questions that we answered in the info graphic below:

Add stability training to your routine, but always think about safety. Getting injured in the weight room is one of the worst things that can happen, and if a strength coach gets an athlete injured he may lose his job. Train smart, read, learn, and stay healthy.