Vision is our most precious sense, capturing the beauty of the world around us. It also allows us to perform at our highest level when we play our favorite sport, improving reaction time and giving us an edge over an opponent. The better we see something coming toward us, the quicker we can respond to it.
But while we work to enhance our joints and muscles, we don’t do much to exercise our eyes. Keeping the eyes strong through visual tracking exercises, dynamic vision training, and nutritional supplementation will enhance your performance. Below are some tips on how to improve eyesight daily that are less strenuous than your average trip to the gym.
What Are Visual Tracking Exercises?
Visual tracking is the ability to move your eyes to focus on an object that moves across your field of vision, including left to right, up to down or circular motions. The skill is essential for daily activities, including reading, driving, drawing, sports and performing basic manual tasks.
This visual processing capacity develops around age five without us even realizing it. The connection between the eyes and brain allows you to perform at your best every minute of the day. And learning how to improve eyesight keeps headaches and eye strain at bay and preserves our vision.
How to Improve Eyesight with Exercises
Improving our eyesight begins with simple movements to improve reaction times and hand-eye coordination. Here are five vision tracking exercises to get you started:
Smooth Pursuits
If you want to know how to improve eyesight, start here. Take something like the tip of a pen and put it at arm’s length. Begin focusing on the target and slowly move it from left to right and right to left until it exits your field of vision. If you feel any strain or discomfort, stop immediately.
Repeat the exercise on the vertical plane and the diagonal plane. You can alternate between slow and fast movements. Continue for a few minutes. If you lose focus, take a break to allow your eyes to recover.
Saccades
Hold two targets, such as a pair of spoons, two feet apart. Keep your head steady and have your eyes jump between the two targets. You can do this horizontally or vertically.
You can also focus on two items at a distance and use a single eye to challenge yourself. Cup your hand over one eye, perform the exercise, and then switch eyes. Increase the speed of your eye movements or move the items further apart to increase the difficulty.
Convergence Pencil Pushup
Take a pencil and hold it at arm’s length. Slowly move it toward your nose while always focusing on the item’s tip. Once you reach the point where the pencil doubles, slowly move the object back until it resolves itself. Hold the target in place for a few seconds and repeat the exercise. Over time, you’ll notice how this exercise improves eyesight as the pencil starts doubling closer and closer to the tip of your nose.
Vestibular Ocular Reflex (VOR) Training
Hold a target at arm’s length and fix your eyes on it. Turn your head horizontally at a metronome’s pace. Turn it back the other way while maintaining focus. Repeat the exercise on the vertical plane. Increase the difficulty by switching VOR training from seated to standing.
Ball Toss
You’ve been learning how to improve eyesight and visual processing since you’ve been playing catch. Grab a partner and stand a few feet apart. Plant your feet and face forward. Turn your body to the right by twisting from the waist. Your partner should toss you the ball. Catch it, then turn your stance to the left before throwing it back. Keep repeating, increasing your repetitions, speed, and distance along the way.
Conclusion
Learning how to improve eyesight only takes a few minutes per day, and exercises are only the beginning of enhancing your vision. Another scientifically proven way to improve your eyesight is nutritional supplementation. High-quality eye supplements like Vision Edge PRO are clinically proven to improve visual health and performance.