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Now you have a proper training plan for the body you want to get your swagger back.
What I've Learned So Far:
The Science of Balance
When I think about balance training, I usually think about standing on one leg, closing my eyes, wobbling around for a while, and hoping that somehow I’m becoming “better at balance.”
Turns out, it’s a little more complicated than that.
If you want to improve your balance, should you practice something easy that you can control, or something hard that really challenges you?
The researchers took 24 healthy adults and had them balance barefoot on one leg on a wobble board. Their arms were crossed, and the goal was to keep the board as level as possible for 20 seconds.
They created three versions of the board:
Easy. Medium. Hard.
Then they split everyone into two groups.
One group only practiced on the easy board.
The other group only practiced on the hard board.
They trained five times over three weeks and then came back to see how much better they had gotten.
And this is where it gets interesting.
The people who practiced on the easy board got better at the easy board.
Makes sense.
But they didn’t significantly improve when they were tested on the medium or hard boards.
Basically:
Practice easy → Get better at easy.
The group practicing on the hardest board had a very different result.
They got better at the hard board.
But they ALSO got significantly better on the medium and easy boards (even though they HAD NOT practiced on them).
So:
Practice hard → Get better at hard AND easier versions.
That’s pretty cool.
And it gets at two ideas that we already understand really well with things like lifting weights and running, but probably don’t think about enough with balance:
Specificity and overload.
Specificity means you get better at what you actually practice.
Want to get better at squatting? Squat.
Want to get better at running? Run.
Want to get better at standing on one leg on a wobble board?
Well…stand on one leg on a wobble board.
Balance doesn’t appear to be this magical universal skill where practicing one random balance exercise suddenly makes you better at every situation requiring balance. The research discussed in this paper actually suggests that balance improvements can be surprisingly specific to the task you’re practicing.
But then we have overload.
If I can squat 100 pounds easily, I can’t expect to squat 100 pounds forever and magically become capable of squatting 300.
Which reminds me, I need to get back at a few 1-3 RM heavy back squat days if I want to hit my Strength Standards this year...oops
Eventually, I have to make it harder.
Balance might work in a similar way.
The researchers argue that the difficult wobble board probably demanded more rapid corrections, more multidirectional control, more attention, and generally more work from the body’s sensorimotor system.
The task had become difficult enough that the body actually had to figure some shit out.
And I think that’s the lesson I’m taking away from this paper:
Don’t just practice balance. Challenge your balance.
If standing on one leg is easy, close your eyes.
If that’s easy, add movement.
Reach in different directions.
Hinge.
Hop and stick the landing.
Change the surface.
Add weight.
Obviously, harder isn’t automatically better. And this was a small study involving one very specific type of balance exercise, so we can’t say that wobbling around on the world’s hardest balance board is suddenly going to make you Steph Curry.
But it does give us a useful way to think about training.
First, identify what you actually want to get better at.
Then practice it.
Then make it harder.
Because whether we’re talking about muscles, endurance, or apparently balancing on one leg…
Our bodies need a reason to adapt.
Charity Challenge Updates:
This month (AUGUST):
There were no group charity challenges in August, just the 2 Bear Crawl Club events. But those are awesome, so go to those!
Next month (SEPTEMBER):
We are BACK at it! The "Remember, Remember, the Stairs of September" event is going LIVE on September 12th, 2 pm, Stadium High Field (Tacoma)
We are doing the equivalent of a Twin Tower (110 flights, ~2,100 steps)
Silver division = Stair climb challenge, no extra weight
I plan on having food of some kind, but bring plenty of snacks and drinks too.
This might be my favorite challenge, because it is personally meaningful (my dad was a paramedic/firefighter for LA Fire Department for 38 years) and it is equally brutal (but low impact) if you do Gold division. Hell of a workout.
Pay $25 for any event to be registered as a "TriumFit Athlete" (25% of TOTAL ticket sales are now going to a relevant charity)
Or buy ALL 7 challenges at once and get 1 challenge FREE
"Bear Crawl Club" Updates
"TriumFit and Chill" is now "Bear Crawl Club." A bi-monthly group fitness challenge and social hang in Tacoma, WA. Read more about the WHY below!
The next couple dates are:
August 9th = Bear Crawl Club #17
Hendrix was player coach subbing for Bandit that day!
August 23rd = Bear Crawl Club #18
Thanks Isiah, Jairo and Bryce for holding it down
Next up:
September 13th
September 27th
ETC. (every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month)
P.S. the first 3 badges are IN! These look incredible.
If you show up to Bear Crawl Events you can earn these bad boys
(or bad bears rather) ;)
$5 suggested donation for badges. The "Cub" arm band is FREE for showing up the 1st time though :D
What is Bear Crawl Clubs purpose?
America is Broken. Not beyond repair, but cracked where it matters most. We’re politically polarized, physically unfit, and angry at anyone but ourselves. We’ve lost the muscles that made us: grit, grace, unity, humility. So let’s rebuild it. Not with opinions. With actions. Introducing: TriumFit’s Moonshot Challenge “The Fall Bear Crawl Across America” 3,000 athletes. 3,000 miles. $300,000 raised for charity. One mile at a time. In October the goal will be to get every day athletes to register to commit to Bear Crawling 1 mile in 1 day, and raising $100 for GiveDirectly.org It will be a completely VIRTUAL challenge, no location limitations. One day it would be cool to actually pass a baton or something across the United States, but not yet. We start on all fours — bear crawling across a divided country to prove something simple: We don’t need to agree on everything to move in the same direction. Because strength isn’t found in shouting louder. It’s found in those who bear their weight and keep moving forward.
🧭 What Training For This Looks Like (local to where I am) Every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month. Unless otherwise noted. 📍 Location Stadium High Football Field, Tacoma WA 🕑 Time 10 am - Noon Hour 1: Fitness (Bear Crawl Challenge) Hour 2: Fun — bring a nostalgic snack + drink combo to share 🐻 Distances (choose your level) ¼ mile · ½ mile · ¾ mile · 1 mile 👉 Gloves recommended Each crawl contributes to our national mission, one local effort at a time. This is where community meets commitment. Where fitness becomes a statement. Where America begins to rebuild. Join the mission. Crawl for a cause.
p.s. If you paid for and completed a TFC event, use this editable document to keep track of your completion times after each event, to see how your fitness is improving!
