Why agility and balance matter.
          Remember when you were a kid and you moved from one area of the playground or log in the woods to another with no effort? Somewhere between your first steps as an infant and your jump rope tricks your body adapted- a lot. Your body may not be able to perform those moves today, however with a little effort these skills can be gained back. The reason - so you can avoid, avoiding those activities you find rewarding due to your fear of falling- like hiking in a park, stepping from dock to boat and vica versa, playing soccer with your kid or trying water skiing.
         
How do I begin?
          Balance can be regained quickly. Start by doing small things like standing to put on your sox, standing on one foot while doing dishes or on the phone or simply walking with one foot directly in front of the other down the hall. You can also work balance and agility into your fitness routine. For example instead of doing leg extensions on a machine, perform lunges with dumbbells. Already doing lunges? Try clock lunges- with the R foot step straight ahead or 12:00, step back to the beginning and then out at 1:00 and repeat until you're at 6:00 or straight back. Repeat with the L leg going from 12:00 to 11:00 and to 6:00.  Always pick and use a focal point directly ahead of you to assist your balance. Doing arm curls with dumbbells? Stand on one foot for ½ the repetitions and the other for the final 1/2. Any exercise you're doing lying down or seated can be done standing. For example a bench press can be performed standing with a handle and a cable to a weight stack and a punching forward motion. Also convert your rowing, overhead pressing, and twisting motions to cables or dumbbells.
          Are you a runner or walker? Typically you do this in a straight forward direction. Throwing in a few backward strides, shuffling moves, skipping and carioca or grapevine will improve your balance, agility and also flexibility. Are you concerned it will look squirrelly? You're too old now to care, so go for it!
          Change - takes you out of your comfort zones and always yields a reward.

Use the attached coupon to prepare yourself for adventure!