Balance practice

I’m almost embarrassed to ask this, but here goes…

I’ve just bought a Wii Fit with balance board (for my daughter honest) and have realised just how bad my balance is. Any thoughts on whether using it will have any transferable skills?

Anyway, back to being the laughing stock of the family! :upside_down_face:

Practice slow motion turns and track stands on your bike for even more balance workouts

Fitness Blender has a couple of balance workouts, I use them for pre-ski season training.

Watch the AACC podcast while kneeling on a yoga ball and holding your hands out in front of you as though they were on your bars. Not that the wii balance board is bad either.

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Thanks for tips, and not laughing too much.

For the summer I’ve swapped to flats on my CX bike and am practicing slow stuff and track stands. It’s a lot harder than I thought!

I added one day of balance exercises per week in the gym last winter.

For me it helped a lot for my core stability which definitely transferred over to the bike (and not just the bike).
When I started with the exercises I would fall/slip of the biggest yoga ball, but by keeping at it I was able to same exercises on the smallest yoga ball.

Plus it might be a fun thing to do together with your daughter :slight_smile:

I have a balance board and an old handlebar that I sometimes use, though not as often as I thought I would. I’d also like to get a yoga ball though, probably soon.

I do a lot of slow speed practice on my bike though, and mtb/cx give endless opportunities to practice that - trackstands, slow speed turns, front/back wheel hops, side hops, etc. I do some skills coaching and encourage everyone I ride with to simply “play” on their bike every chance they get. Again, with mtb or cx, every stop or technical section is an opportunity, you can create those opportunities in a yard/park/driveway.

I wouldn’t feel embarrassed to ask this question at all, balance on a bike is something that just simply doesn’t come naturally to so so many people.

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If it works for Kate Courtney, it’ll probably work for you too!

Nino Schurter does some cool stuff too and he’s also pretty ok at riding bikes:

I’ve seen some of the balance stuff Kate Courtney does on her Instagram feed, it’s crazy! Thanks for the link.