Are You Fit for Life?

One of my favourite parts of the week is the agility, coordination and balance based session we do. Most of us stop being active as soon as we leave school, even myself somewhat. I remember when I was at college I'd be teaching martial arts 2 nights a week and training another 2, I'd have dance rehearsals on a Saturday and play football on a Sunday and Wednesday afternoon. I pretty much did something active every day. Then I went to Uni and even though I was doing a degree in sports and exercise science it was a zero practical based course. The most practical thing I remember doing was getting weighed in an underwater chamber where I just sat in my swim stuff. Like with most people my life took over and the sports I loved took a back seat.

As soon as we stop moving we lose all our functional skills. How many of you lift you foot up to tie your shoes laces rather than bend down to tie them? Most of us lie in a bed, wake up have breakfast in a chair, Sit in a chair to go to work, Sit in a chair at work, have lunch in a chair, sit back in a chair to commute home, have dinner in a chair, sit in a chair to watch tv or do work then lie back down to go to bed. This is making us less mobile and flexible. Many of the injuries to backs that I see are not from lifting too much at work or home, many are from picking up a pencil whilst still in their chair or trying to reach something from behind them in the car.

People love the agility sessions. We play games and go through training drills just like you might have done at school. It's an eye opener for some people to see just how much their mobility and flexibility have been effected through an inactive lifestyle. But if we can get you better balance, better coordination, better flexibility and mobility then exercise will be so much easier and you will feel like you are getting more out of it. Plus playing games is fun. We even had a session last week where we played kids party games like duck duck goose and musical chairs and by the end of it, everyone was out of breathe, sweating and had a big smile of their face, much better than running on a treadmill for 30 minutes staring a gym wall.

Special blog post editorial from one of our FitFarms Health and Fitness instructors.

Image Credit: Quotesgram.com