There's more to the game than just...
NOTE - This post was originally written for our 'weekly warble' segment in a few Facebook groups for the community local to our gym.
Welcome to the weekly warble here at Ideanthro Movement!
In this week's warble I'm going to take a moment to talk you through part of a recent session here at the gym. I have decided to do this because I know that our sessions look very different to the traditional fitness industry, and hence it can sometimes be a little difficult to deduce exactly what we're aiming to achieve in any given photo (and that can make it hard to play along at home etc).
Let's talk about this recent session. In photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 of the post below you'll see us playing a little obstacle course game. We played this game on a day where the theme for our skill practice was "stepping under and over". The aim was to start at one end of the two balance beams and move to the other without either falling off or touching any of the cross facing obstacles (e.g. red bars, broomsticks etc). Clearly there were elements of balance practice in this, as well as skills associated with getting under and over the obstacles, but there was a fair bit more as well. Let's take a look at a few benefits of this game, starting with the more obvious and then getting a little bit more obtuse as we go.
A quick note before I start. The version of this game that you see in these pictures is a moderately difficult one. This games could be made much easier with (1) wider beams (or no beams at all), (2) less cross pieces, and/or (3) cross pieces placed in more favourable positions (i.e. placing the low ones lower and the high ones higher). In this way it is accessible no matter what your current skill level is.
Ok, let's talk about these benefits.
1) THE SKILL OF BALANCE - This one's pretty straightforward. In this game we're playing around on balance beams. In doing so we're practising and improving our balance. Photos 1 and 5 are good examples of this.
2) THE SKILL OF STEPPING OVER AND UNDER - You might not necessarily think of stepping over and under as a skill to be practiced. Surely it's just something we humans do naturally? Yes and no. There are definitely things that you can do to make stepping over and under objects easier. In many circumstances, the most important of these is to step over high objects (and under low objects) sideways rather than front on. For various reasons this makes it much easier and more controlled. Photos 1 and 5 are good examples of stepping over (albeit not using the sideways technique, because the particular arrangement of the obstacles didn't allow it).
3) SPATIAL AWARENESS - Moving in and amongst the bars and along the beams requires us to understand where we are in space relative to these obstacles. As such it allows us to practise our spatial awareness. This is relevant for falls prevention. In this game this skill practice is most prevalent when we move under an object and we can no longer see it. Photos 2, 4 and 8 are good examples of this.
4) HIP MOBILITY - In item 2 I mentioned the skill of stepping under an object sideways. Well it turns out that when you step sideways with good technique under a bar that's low for you (whatever height that may be) it also doubles as a great hip mobility exercise. Unfortunately I don't have a good photograph of this in this bunch.
5) UPPER BODY STRENGTH - This one might come as a surprise. Upper body strength in a game about stepping over and under obstacles? As it happens, sometimes the technically easiest solution (although not necessarily easiest from a strength and mobility point of view) is simply to crawl underneath everything. However, as soon as you start crawling, the upper body demands increase dramatically. Think of it like a pushup that doesn't end until you're completely past the obstacle. Photos 4 and particularly 8 are examples of this.
And that's it for this list. It's a fun game, and that's enough reason on it's own to give it a go. Approach it in certain ways however and there's a lot more to be had. Heck after we took these photos we even simplified the course and weaved it into a cardio focused workout, but that's a story for another day.
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