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. 

The Physical Feat of Landing, Handling, and releasing our Fish with care

For the budding new angler or those who tend to hit the water with guides or buddies more often than not, you may be in for a bit of a surprise when first realizing that netting your own fish can wind up being the greatest feat of the day. While we’ve been fortunate in more recent years to have excellent organizations like Keep Fish Wet leading the charge in safe fish handling education, implementing the methodology just might greet you with a few unexpected asks from your physical self. Executed with ease and maybe even taken for granted by some, plenty surely find that there’s more to it than meets the eye while navigating a solid landing, handling, and release. Here’s the lowdown on some of the physical elements that help to pull off a solid landing and release, along with a few tips that you can implement into your daily life to help keep your body moving well while you care for your fishy friends.

1: Shoulder Mobility- It should go without saying that we utilize a fair amount of shoulder mobility while we cast. What may be a little less obvious is the extent to which we typically need to move our rod handling arm into shoulder flexion(arm high above the head) while netting our own fish. Maintaining well moving shoulders is essential, most notably while netting and landing our fish. TRY: Shoulder CARs(controlled articular rotations) are one of the best ways to go about building and maintaining range of motion and control within the shoulder girdle. With the option of executing shoulder CARs from a variety of positions(seated, standing, tall kneeling, or in a quadruped position), incorporating a quick set of controlled rotations daily will help to keep this joint complex moving well.

2: Reaching- With the lift of our rod comes an even longer reach with our net handling limb. Reaching requires coordination between the shoulder blade, shoulder capsule, entire arm, and it tends to incorporate a certain degree of spinal mobility as well. Keeping all of the above in at least decent working order will suit us well on the water and within our regular daily life activities. TRY: A great way to stack some movements together is to incorporate single arm or two armed reaches into a variety of seated positions while on the floor. Try sitting cross legged and reaching forward, overhead, and from side to side, and repeat with the opposite leg in front. Other floor sitting positions to explore include both legs stretched out ahead, straddled legs, and any type of squat. Feel free to place a yoga block, bolster, or blanket/pillows underneath your seat to help make floor sitting more accessible. Bonus points for adding in some trunk rotation to keep your spinal health on the up and up, too.

3: Grip Strength- And I’m not talking about death gripping your fish. Please don’t. While some may choose to use a hands-free release, it’s oftentimes ideal to have a rubber net handy. While over-gripping is generally unnecessary, maintaining healthy hands and wrists goes a very long way while we’re managing the many moving parts that is releasing our fish(and definitely supports many other areas where fly angling is concerned). Even just the act of hanging onto our net handle can be a bit of a project if our hands aren’t quite up for the task. TRY: Similar to your shoulder CARs that we went over above, daily wrist rotations through your full range of motion is a great way to keep wrists mobile. The idea behind the controlled articular rotations is that they’re executed slowly and methodically. Try three rotations moving clockwise, followed by three moving counter-clockwise. Squeeze a tennis ball in your palm while doing them to add in some grip strength work.

4: Lower Body Mobility- Perhaps one of the greater challenges for many is the ability to get low enough to the water to remove your fly and release your fish, all while keeping your fish wet. A lack of mobility in your ankles, knees, and hips can pose some challenges. I typically find that my best course of action while keeping my fish submerged during a netting and release is to lower into some degree of a squat. A healthy and mobile lower body can be really helpful in these circumstances, and can also contribute to checking water temperatures when needed, too. TRY: Incorporating some floor sitting into your daily routine is a fantastic and kinda unsuspecting way to help build and maintain a certain level of lower body mobility. It requires us to regularly shift our hips, knees, ankles, and pelvis throughout a variety of angles while we change positions, resulting in spending more time within diverse orientations. Feel free to sit on top of blankets or cushions if accessing the floor feels difficult on its own, and if you feel that you’ll need a little extra aid to get back up again, sitting next to a piece of furniture or something that’s stable can be useful. If sitting on the floor is a no-go for you, try regularly changing the way that you sit in chairs or on the couch. Bend and straighten your knees and hips in a variety of ways, and add some ankle CARs into the mix while you’re at it, too. Aim to spend at least 30 minutes a day on the floor if you’re able.

5: Balance & Proprioception- We’re reaching, pivoting, squatting, and gripping. Frequently all taking place while standing inside of a moving body of water. Within the chaos and victory of the moment, don’t forget that you still need to keep your feet beneath you. Being able to remain steady within movement is the very definition of stability. Balance and spatial awareness are key.  TRY: A super simple way to work on overall balance is to incorporate some sustained single leg balancing into your daily life. While just standing on one leg is a great way to begin, as you become more comfortable add in some movement to give your body the opportunity to respond and re-stabilize within an unstable environment. I love to explore some swings with my lifted leg, reaches with my arms, and even some hip hinges down towards the ground, all while balancing on one foot. Don’t be shy about using a wall or other stable surface for some support while you progressively increase your balance abilities over time.

Surprisingly enough, safely handling your fish while returning them to the water may actually leave you with all sorts of unexpected and unintentional mobility gains. Keep those rod tips lifting and your squats plenty low! Likewise, if you’re looking for motivation to work on some of your movement and mobility capacity while off of the water, becoming a more ethical and mindful angler seems to be as good a reason as any. Your joints and your fisheries will surely thank you.