Balance is extremely important in running, and balance is easy to take for granted as a runner. One of the reasons human beings can’t run until they’re two years old is that they lack the required balance. Think about it: When you run you’re either airborne or have just one foot on the ground at all times, and your center of gravity, or balance point, is continuously moving forward. Only half of the energy your body uses during running actually goes toward forward propulsion. The other half goes toward preventing yourself from falling down.

You need two things to avoid falling down each time your foot strikes the ground during running: stability and balance. They sound like synonyms but in this case they are not. Stability refers to a state of the body where little active balancing is required. It comes from the alignment of your body as your foot makes contact with the ground and the ability of the muscles whose job is to prevent your joints from collapsing on impact to do that job properly. Balance refers to the neuromuscular skill of activating the muscles and adjusting your body alignment to keep yourself upright. It comes from the ability to anticipate and react to challenges to the body’s postural equilibrium.

Bagot Stack is a unique system which is based on yoga, remedial health exercises and movement, and offers a complete approach to body fitness and mobility. The focus is on strengthening abdominal muscles to achieve ‘central control’ which provides the basis of good posture, perfect balance and stability, both essential requirements for running correctly without putting further strain on the body.

Running experts talk a lot about stability and how to improve it, but they don’t talk a lot about balance. Obviously, the two attributes are interdependent. The more stable you are, the less balance you need. The Bagot Stack system through an enjoyable sequence of movements to music will help strengthen muscle and provide mobility, which allows the body to control any movement in sport with the stability and balance that is needed.

For a Bagot Stack class near you, follow the link below, insert your postcode and then search for Fitness League:

http://www.classfinder.org.uk/