How to Improve your Single Leg Balance
If you're a runner and you have foot stuff going on like plantar fasciitis or achilles tendinitis I am going to be breaking down a Pilates exercise just for you. Before you turn away because you don’t have any foot or ankle pain I’ll be breaking down why strengthening your feet and balance can help you become more powerful in your hills or less nervous about spraining your ankle on a trail run. Trust me, you are going to want to check these three Pilates exercises out.
If you are more of a visual learner I recommend checking out this video here:
The first exercise I’ll be breaking down is called Standing Single Leg Pumping which is done on the Wunda chair. It is the first exercise shown in my instagram reel post here. I’ll also be sharing with you two ways to do this exercise at home without Pilates equipment. All you need is a small ball and light resistance band. I recommend using one of the NON fabric bands to get the most benefit out of the exercise.
The Wunda Chair
It’s small but boy is it mighty. When I was introduced to Pilates I was astounded by the variety of exercises that you could do with it, especially since the first studio I ever went to we only did three exercises on it. The Wunda chair actually was created to be able to fit in a small New York apartment and still be able to get a challenging full body workout with limited space and equipment. It even can be flipped on its side and act as a chair in your living room area. How crazy is that?
Gratz Wunda Chair
Breaking Down Single Leg Standing Pumping on the Wunda Chair
Back to the standing pumping exercise. Why is it even important and why would we want to incorporate it during our Pilates session? First let me start out by saying that Pilates exercises are multifaceted meaning that there is no ONE thing that they focus on. There are always multiple things that are working and that can be thought about which is why I love Pilates. It is so adaptable and can really relate to anything and everything we do in life.
All of these exercises will have more reasons and benefits to them than I will mention today in this post. I'm writing about it from the standpoint of being a Pilates instructor and personal trainer that works with runners. So I’ll be describing the exercises from that lens.
I like to prescribe these exercises for the running clients that I work with because:
it helps with balance
it helps with stability in the foot and the ankle
it helps strengthen and level the pelvis
It strengthens the core as it works to support and lengthen the spine
It strengthens the core as it prevents hip hiking/ leaning (anti-lateral flexion)
Standing Pumping on the Wunda Chair vs. running
Looking at a still shot of the exercise in the start position you can also see that it slightly mimics one of the phases a runner will pass through in their stride. So you're going to start to develop strength that can directly transfer to the activity the runner is trying to get strong in.
Single leg standing pumping is one of the first exercises I’ll give to a client in a standing closed chained position. It shows me that the person I am working with can get their hips stacked over their feet. From teaching experience I find people struggle with their balance because of either weakness in their feet or insufficient ankle stability. As a result of this weakness, they struggle to stand “on their foot” or they'll compensate or counterbalance by shifting their hips or waist over to the side.
Yes, sometimes this can be a result of weakness in the foot or hips. However, I always look to see what the foot and ankle are doing when I see that shear.
Is the whole footprint on the ground or is the big toe/inner arch wavering upwards towards the pinky side of the foot into supination? This is an exercise that is going to put a magnifying glass on that and it’s also going to be a great way to help address that.
Supination of the foot vs. doming of the arch
Setting up for the Single Leg Standing Pumping I have my clients “find their feet” first. All that means is I want them to find pressure in the entire outline of their feet. That means equal pressure from front to back as well as from inside to outside of their feet. Once they have that, I ask if they can imagine creating a dome or a tent on the inside lining of their foot and voila! The arch is lifted while the pad of the big toe remains connected to the floor.
Now to maintain all that as the foot lifts onto the pedal. There are a couple ways to position the hands to assist with this and I like to do the version where the hands are behind the head. I find that this incorporates a little bit more postural muscles in the upper back which they are going to need especially as a long distance runner. Have you ever encountered a tired runner that is coming up to the finish line leaning over to one side or just really hunched over forward? This is going to be addressed by strengthening those postural muscles in the back that will combat both of those leans.
Once the hands are behind the head and one foot is lifted onto the pedal I like to emphasize the standing leg more than the moving leg. I really want the runner to find their height, their length that comes from pushing the footprint into the ground and with that down pressure the crown of the head can get taller. This creates more space in the standing hip (hello sneaky booty work and hip flexor stretch) and the core works so that you can be strong like a tree trunk. The pumping leg is a distraction. That's one of the things that I really like about it. The runner has to work against the chair springs to keep it from knocking them over! (don’t worry, no one has ever fallen while working with me).
When I personally do this exercise I have to think “put my big toe into the ground” because I have the tendency to roll over into my pinky side. From this exercise you can see what someone's tendencies are going to be when they walk, hike, run etc. This exercise is showing the tendencies the foot/ankle has moving in a closed chained/stable position. So think when you add the moving forward component everything that is happening in this closed chained position is combating greater forces of instability. Then add in uneven terrain, hills, things like that it’s no wonder foot injuries are common in runners that don’t incorporate strength drills for their feet!
How to apply this foot work at home?
If you're limited to virtual sessions without Pilates equipment or wanting to know how to incorporate this as an at home drill, keep reading! This is when the ball and resistance band comes into play.
So I like to use a yoga tune up ball but you could also use a tennis ball. You’ll want something that has a little bit of give or pliability to it. For the resistance band I prefer the perform better bands. You’ll want to use a light resistance band. I tried to use one of the fabric material loops but for this particular exercise, it doesn’t really work quite as well as the elastic band loop. So we'll be breaking down a couple different ways to replicate the exercise.
The standing single leg pumping can be done two ways and I encourage trying them out both ways. Each variation focuses on different muscle activation that are useful in creating strong running patterns as well as strengthening your feet. What I really like about the ball is that it mimics the pressing down sensation of the pedal on the chair as well as another piece of equipment called the foot corrector. Place the ball on the floor and take the pad of your foot evenly across the top of it. For the foot that is on the ball you’ll want to lift the heel higher than the toes and have equal weight across from big toe to pinky toe.
At home standing balance exercise with ball
Take your hands and interlace them behind your head and find your balance in this staggered position. Even though the lift from the ball isn’t quite as high as the pedal you’ll still be challenged with your balance as the ball does roll. Find your footprint and length in the standing leg as we mentioned above and apply downward pressure into the ball. There's not as much range of motion here with my pumping leg, but we still get to mimic that push down sensation of the bent leg. This is a really great place to start working on balance and foot stability.
Moving onto the second at home exercise variation. Take your light resistant loop and here we get to mimic a little bit more of the instability of the pedal moving upwards. Place the band around the arches of both feet. With a flexed foot (toes drawn towards you) lift one of your legs upwards so that the thigh bone is parallel to the ground. This mimics moving the Wunda chair pedal to it’s most top position. The lower abdominals work as the leg lifts upwards towards the sky and the pliable-ness of the band creates more instability for the standing leg
At Home Balance Exercise with Resistance Band
The standing leg has to fight against the pull of the resistance band and it’s going to want to make the foot turn up. The standing leg and foot have to fight against that by pushing into the ground more heavily, strengthening the smaller intrinsic muscles of the foot and stabilizers in the ankle. The muscles that we’re activating in the standing leg are the same muscles that keep us from getting an ankle sprain while on a trail or on the road. The resistance band also changes in degree of force depending on how much it is stretched so your core is working to keep you upright to combat the changing tension of the band.
Why incorporate both in your home program?
The ball is going to help strengthen the glute of your pumping leg and strengthen your foot/arch in a pointed position. The band is going to strengthen your core in anti-rotation and anti-lateral flexion. The resistance band variation will be slightly more challenging for the single leg balance and strengthen your lower abdominals in hip flexion.
Those are just a couple of the ways that I like to utilize props that you might already have in your home. As you can see both the bands and the ball don’t even take up much space and the exercises don’t even take up very much time.
Why do we want to focus so much on Foot stability?
If we have weight on leaning towards one side of our foot, that is going to change the way force is getting distributed up through our shinbone, our calf, through my knees and even up and past the hip. Everything in our body is connected and can create a chain of events. Not only is strengthen your feet going to help with combating things like plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendinitis, it’s also going to help our musculoskeletal system sit in such a way that it can optimally absorb and create forces you need to run, hike, climb stairs, etc. Therefore, it not onlys is going to help prevent injuries, but it's also going to help you work more efficiently and with more power in all that you do on your feet.
If you want to start incorporating these stronger feet benefits into your routine NOW download a copy of my exercise guide: Stronger From the Ground Up. I lay out simple and effective at home exercises to strengthen your feet.
What was something that surprised you in this blog? Let me know in the comments below! I also would love for you to share this article with your running friends or any friends that you know want to focus on their balance. Maybe you have a friend that has a tendency to roll their ankle or has mentioned they have a lot of foot pain. You don't have to be a runner in order to benefit from these exercises. Everyone loves to be thought of, no one wants to live in pain, so if someone came to your mind as you were reading, send this article over to them.
I really truly feel that knowledge is empowering and the more that we know about our body, the better that we're going to feel on a day to day basis, not just with our running sports.
