May is finally here, and for me, that means emerging from my winter hibernation and embracing the joys of walking outside. I truly love walking, but during the winter, my step count tends to drop, and it sometimes takes a minute to get my walking groove back. This spring, I’ve been thinking about balance and sway and how they play into graceful, strong movement.
In ballroom and Latin dancing, sway is a deliberate incline of the entire body away from the standing foot and the direction of movement. It sounds subtle, but it’s actually doing some serious biomechanical work. As dance coach Fiona Hutton explains, sway is what enables a dancer to slow down, gain control, and manage momentum — think of a sprinter leaning back after they cross the finish line, creating a counter-balance that gradually slows them down. Without that lean, they’d stumble right off the track.
What this means in practice is that, at every step, a well-trained dancer should theoretically be able to stop and maintain their balance. The bigger the step, the more sway is needed to counteract the body’s momentum. And here’s the key: a strong, stable core is what makes it all work together, ensuring the body moves as one fluid unit rather than a collection of parts flopping in different directions.
Sound familiar, Pilates people?
Of course, it’s not just about sway and core strength. To simply put one foot in front of the other, we need real support from our glutes (some of you may recall that I’ve given a lot of thought to the junk in my trunk). Most people immediately picture the gluteus maximus, that big, powerful muscle responsible for climbing stairs and getting up off the couch. But the real stars of the walking-and-balance show are actually the deeper, smaller muscles: the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus.
Here’s what they’re up to while you’re just going about your day:
- The gluteus minimus and gluteus medius both assist in the internal rotation and abduction of the hip during walking, which keeps your gait smooth and efficient.
- The gluteus medius has the particularly important job of stabilizing the pelvis and maintaining upright trunk posture when one leg is off the ground — which, by the way, is literally what you’re doing every time you take a step. As one foot swings forward, your entire body weight is balanced on the standing leg, and your glute med is working hard to keep your pelvis level and your body upright.
Which brings us to what Mandy lovingly calls the “uni-butt shuffle.” I’ve written about this before — and it’s worth a read if you missed it — because beyond looking a little wobbly, that pelvic drop puts real extra stress on the knees, hips, and lower back over time. Nobody wants that.
Here’s something worth really sitting with (and then getting up from, with great glute activation): balance is not static. We often think of being “balanced” as being in the perfect position, and we better not move or we’ll lose it. I was recently in London and thought of the guards outside Buckingham Palace. But that image is actually the opposite of what healthy, functional balance looks like.
Dynamic balance is the ability to maintain control while moving — during walking, turning, or transitioning between positions. It shifts and responds and adapts in real time as we move through the world — stepping off a curb, reaching for something on a high shelf, walking on an uneven path, or dancing in the kitchen while making dinner (just me?). Every time we take a step in any direction, we’re testing our dynamic balance, and our bodies are constantly making tiny adjustments and corrections to keep us upright and moving with grace and ease.
And here’s a fun fact about those Buckingham Palace guards: even they sway. At least every 10 minutes, they are required to turn and march about 10 paces back and forth — specifically to keep blood from pooling in their legs and causing them to faint. Even the most disciplined human bodies need movement to function. Balance, like life, is always in motion.
If you’re feeling inspired to do a little movement right now at home, Mandy put together this short but mighty side-lying glute series. It’s a targeted, accessible sequence (no equipment needed!) that zeroes in on those often-neglected glute med and glute min muscles — the ones quietly holding everything together every time you take a step, shift your weight, or find your footing.
And now that I’ve said “sway” approximately 100 times, perhaps you’d like to close out with a little Michael Bublé on your next walk? Fun fact for dance nerds: the irony is that ‘Sway’ is actually a cha-cha — a Latin dance where that ballroom sway technique doesn’t apply at all. But we’ll let Michael Bublé off the hook on this one.
Be well,
