Balance is the ability to offset any momentum throughout the body to maintain a stable position. To avoid toppling you must ensure that your centre of mass lies in between your base of support. This is why having a wide base and a low centre of mass improves balance.

Balance involves some of the senses and the muscles that contract to stabilise the body. The senses detect changes within the environment such as pressure, visual indicators etc and then the muscles are activated to bring about the required body position. It is an important physical ability that is is used by us everyday in varying degrees. From standing on your toes so that you can reach for something on a high shelf, to a gymnast performing the iron cross on the rings.

To improve your general balance it is important to perform exercises that require various sensory inputs to assist across different body parts. Sports athletes will want to supplement this with more specific exercises that replicate the unstable situations they normally experience within the sports they participate.