6 Tips to Improve Your Walk & Wade Balance Abilities From Home

Walking and wading, seemingly simple and straight-forward, can introduce a good deal of unexpected physical challenges. Especially while exploring more wild and ungroomed landscapes, increasing our capacity to move well while we explore our favorite fisheries and wild places will hopefully continue to lead us back to them for many years to come. While simply getting out into the woods and on the water is a surefire way to help keep us moving in the right direction, there are a good deal of small and simple gestures that we can incorporate into our daily lives that can have an equally beneficial impact. For those fly anglers who love to spend their days walking amidst varied terrain, as well as for those who are new to wading, working on improving and refining the basic mechanisms and skills that support those endeavors is essential. 

1: Single Leg Balancing-For the yogis and martial artists in the crowd, you’re likely familiar with plenty of instances where you utilize single leg balancing while practicing postures or delivering a kick. What many don’t consider is the fact that walking itself(or running for that matter) is a form of single leg balancing, albeit one that’s typically performed at a quicker pace. Within the context of walking and wading, we’re frequently asked to balance on one leg for at least slightly longer periods of time. Whether you’ve wound up with a fly mysteriously secured to a wading boot lace or you’re securely standing on one foot while carefully pulling the other from the grips of an unexpectedly deep sink of mud, having the ability to stand well on one leg will serve you well.

Try: Simply standing on one foot/leg for a period of time everyday. You may choose to lift one foot off of the ground while brushing your teeth, waiting for a kettle of water to boil, or standing in line at the grocery store. Feel free to utilize the wall or another stable object nearby for added support, and increase your single leg balance duration over time. Be sure to practice on both legs. 

2: Balanced Walking-Truth be told, all walking is a balanced walk of sorts(hence the above reference to walking really being a version of single leg balancing). That said, there can be various circumstances that we encounter while fly angling that may require a shift away from our typical everyday walking gait. The most obvious obstacles include walking across downed trees, over a bed of boulders or rocks, or through a tight and narrow passageway. Having regularly exposed ourselves to some level of walking that mimics these types of situations is a great way to build some neuromuscular awareness and preparedness.

Try: Incorporating a “tightrope” style of walk into your daily walking routine. While in the driveway, yard, or indoor space, take some heel to toe walks both forwards and backwards. If you have lines in your space that are easy to follow(such as lines in a sidewalk, tiles on the floor, etc.) feel free to incorporate that tool as well. Eventually you can literally uplevel your walks by balancing on a 2x4. 

3: Being Barefoot-The unfortunate reality of most modern footwear is that it prohibits our feet from feeling the varied ground structure beneath them. The result is an overall lack of both strength and resiliency in our feet as well as our ankles. One of the best ways to begin offering   our feet the opportunity to become stronger and more self-sufficient is to simply kick off our shoes from time to time(and bearing weight/moving around). While footwear(even the more supportive versions) may be required by some for a good portion of the time, incorporating some barefoot standing and walking into our daily lives will go a really long way.

Try: You guessed it, start spending more time barefoot. If you’re one who almost always has some type of footwear on, be it shoes, sandals, slippers, and the like, you may actually find that your feet get a little sore in the same way that any muscle group fatigues after being engaged. Ease into it if needed, and begin to diversify the environments where you walk barefoot over time(carpet, hardwood floors, outdoor areas, etc.). For those who’re interested in transitioning to minimalist style footwear, this can be a nice way to add more barefoot style walking into your lifestyle. 

4: Toe Neuromapping-We tend to think of each of our fingers as individual components that contribute to the whole of each of our hands, but in less circumstances do we really consider our toes in the same regard. Truth be told, strong toes and toes that are strongly connected to our brains are integral to our firm connection to the ground, and likewise our balance. When considering our toes as kickstands of sorts, we begin to uncover the potential to create greater balance within the work of strengthening the individual composite pieces of the whole. While this particular practice may require a certain degree of patience, most see a large degree of improvement pretty quickly.

Try: While either seated or standing in a comfortable position(ensuring that you’re barefoot), begin by lifting and lowering just one of your big toes. Now switch to your other big toe. Toggle between lifting and lowering your big toes for several reps, then move onto lifting and lowering the set of small toes(all but the big toe) on one of your feet, then switching to the other for several reps. Note that it may take some time to build the neuromuscular connection between your toes and your brain, so be patient. 

5: Vestibular Drills-While it’s typical to spotlight the more obvious muscles, limbs, and components of our bodies that we utilize while walking, wading, and balancing, the Vestibular system itself is absolutely one of the most central players. One of our sensory systems, it’s composed of our inner ear canal and ocular structure. For those who’ve worked with PT’s or occupational therapists for varying issues such as vertigo, you’re likely familiar with some of the various vestibular drills that can be of great assistance while helping to maintain health within this system. The great thing about some of these exercises is that they can even be practiced while sitting down, contrary to what most imagine when considering work to support standing balance in particular.

Try: Take a seat and extend one arm out straight out in front of you in a thumbs-up position. Keeping your eyes fixed on your thumb ahead, turn your head to the left, then return to center and turn your head to the right. Now lift your head upwards, followed by lowering it downward. Try several reps in all four directions. To progress, try it while standing, eventually moving to a single leg balancing position. 

6: MFR(Myofascial Release) For Your Feet- More and more we’re finding that engaging with the soft tissues of our bodies can be helpful in a myriad of ways. With that, another oftentimes overlooked element that impacts our ability to balance is that of the neurosensory capacity of our feet as well as the overall health of the many bones, joints, and soft tissues that compose them. Utilizing a simple and consistent MFR practice can be an excellent way to help aid in the mobility and articulation of all of the above while we create feet that are able to sense and respond to stimuli.

Try: Rolling out of the soles of your feet is a great introduction to MFR, though depending on the individual you may choose to vary the application as well as the style of ball(s) that you utilize. For beginners as well as those who have fairly sensitive feet, a tennis ball can be a great place to start, as they tend to be softer and more forgiving. There are various MFR specific balls on the market that are great options as well. While rolling your feet, cover as much surface area as possible between the ball mounds to the heel. Be sure to focus some attention on the arches, and utilize a degree of pressure that feels sustainable(MFR work should never feel painful). You can roll forwards and backwards following the contours of your feet, as well as side to side with a cross-fiber approach.