Written by Ben Sonnenburg
Having good posture is seen by most people as a very good thing to have.
Those who obtain it have a sense of confidence that they would otherwise not have before. It provides numerous other benefits like decreased pain and overall athletic performance.
Many parents take note of this, while not knowing the full scope, and tell their children to sit up straight at the dinner table or stand taller. All of these actions are possible with increased balanced and stability. Without them, the body would not know what specific position to be in and would hunch over.
However, not much study has been done to determine the potential adaptations that balance has between adolescents around the age of 14 and children around 7 years old.
Researchers brought in a total of 72 participants to study the effects of balance training on balance performance in youth. Of those 72, 30 were children with a median age of seven and a half. Of those thirty, they were further divided into 14 boys and 16 girls.
On the other hand, the adolescents comprised a total of 42 people. They consisted of 26 boys and 16 girls. The children were chosen from a primary school while the adolescents were chosen from two secondary school classes. This allowed for rigid testing during a class but did not take place on an individual level.
There was also no major difference between the groups in body composition or maturity status.
Once the participants were categorized, they were randomly divided into two groups. A balance training group (BT) and a control group.
Both groups exercised for five weeks approximately 3 times a week. They performed the same eight exercises every session, three times each for a total of 24 sets. Each set was performed for 30 seconds. The participants were also given an average of 45 seconds rest between each set. The exercises focused on mobility, static steady-state, proactive, and reactive balance. The researchers also increased the training difficulty by manipulating stance, walking combinations, and visual input.
Those within the control group had no specific balance exercises incorporated into their training, but maintained a normal P.E class. The groups were tested at the end of the five weeks by using the single leg stance while standing on a three-dimensional force plate. While on the plate they were instructed to stand as still as possible for 30 seconds without shoes and their eyes planted on a cross.
Gait velocity was also recorded in a ten-meter walk test. The participants were instructed to walk ten meters as fast as possible. Depending on how they walked, it also impacted their mobility which was also noted. Balance was measured by the Lower Quarter Y Balance Test (LQ-YBT) which has been proven effective in other studies for youth.
Seven of the participants were unable to complete the post-test due to health issues unrelated to the test itself. There was also a 98% attendance rate of those considered within the results which demonstrates to the researchers that appropriate adherence to the testing protocol was followed. In the first single leg test, there was a significant improvement in the BT group for children by 16%.
Unfortunately, the adolescents only had a 2% increase which was deemed not significant compared to the control group. For mobility both BT groups revealed improvements. However, the children improved by 37%, while the adolescents only improved 12%. Balance was also significant improved in both BT groups by 4.7%.
Both of the groups improved by this number and it is the only one deemed significant by the researchers that both groups improve in at a similar rate.
Within the study there were very high attendance rates that favorably adds to the validity of the testing. If there was not such a high attendance rate, the data could be thrown out and study performed again with other participants.
Nevertheless, the researchers demonstrated that there is a great increase in balance training within both groups.
Those within the control groups had minor improvements. These findings negate the research of Granacher, Muehlbaur, Masestrini et al. (2011) which found that six year old children did not have any balance adaptations after following balance training. Nevertheless, the testing were done on children a year and a half younger which may have impacted their bodies capabilities greatly due to their age.
Regardless, the researchers found that there is a major difference between adolescents and children within the groups. Both BT groups improved, but the children improved significantly more than the adolescents by over 30% in some cases.
Therefore, balance and coordination should be a part of every child’s training program to build a better understanding of their bodies proprioceptive capabilities.
Balance training has a very positive impact both in adolescents and children. Both were found to have statistically significant improvements that improved their mobility, balance, gait, and reactive responses.
However, the children improved much more than the adolescents.
Therefore, much more training in proprioceptive environments should be incorporated for children due to their bodies capability to respond to that stimulus.
This article has been extremely helpful for me because it has seemed to unlock a door to train youth. Previously I have always said no due to their poor response to strength training, which is my heart and soul, but now I am open to it.
They respond extremely favorably to proprioceptive challenges. This may be due in part to them still learning their bodies capabilities and strengthening their neuromuscular responses.
Therefore, children should first be given a foundation of exercises that challenge their neural system before trying to make improvements to their muscle size.
Reference:
Schedler, S., Brock, K., Fleischhauer, F., Kiss, R., & Muehlbauer, T. (2020). Effects of Balance Training on Balance Performance in Youth: Are There Age Differences? Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, 91(3), 405–414.