When I signed up for the YMCA Community Health Challenge, I knew I would be in for some exercises I hadn’t done before. I’ve never really done strength training, so I was expecting to be lifting weights. That has been a big part of it, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some of the other exercises.
One of them involves balance and flexibility as well as strength. It sounds simple. Stand on one leg. Bend down. Reach across your body and touch your foot with you hand. So if I’m standing on my right leg, I’m trying to touch my right foot with my left hand.
This is MUCH harder than it sounds, especially if you’re a bit fatigued to begin with. When I first tried it, I couldn’t do more than one or two without teetering and needing to put my other foot down. As you can see from the video, I’m not flexible enough to get my hand all the way down to my foot. But I’m reaching a lot further down than when I started a month ago!
The video is a bit rare because I was able to do ten in a row without putting my other foot on the ground or grabbing the rail for balance! I was able to do three sets of ten on each foot.
Sound easy? Try it at home and let me know!
Follow along each week until the end of March as Reid attempts the YMCA Community Health Challenge.
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