Stability Challenge

Can you do this stability challenge? All you need is a safe space, a pair of trainers with laces and a pair of socks!

Why should it matter if I need to sit down or hold onto something to take my socks and shoes on and off?

Functional mobility is the body’s ability to move in all the directions in which it was designed in order to perform everyday tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, gardening, bending, rotating, lifting and carrying. A functional move like this challenge requires core strength, balance, mobility, flexibility and co-ordination.

We are all ageing from the moment we are born although we don’t always view it that way – we have a tendency to see it as growing up before we go in the other direction and start to decline! From around our third decade, we lose around 8% of muscle mass per year. This is a generalisation of course and will vary from person to person based on many different lifestyle and genetic factors however, even so, to maintain what we had let alone increase our muscle mass, resistance training should be part of our lives. Ageing is inevitable but we can influence how we age. Challenging ourselves and being mindful about the way we move when carrying out daily tasks means that we can be maximising our strength, flexibility and balance gains – BONUS!

When we do resistance training, we are using a weight as a stimulus to strengthen our neuromuscular connections. With consistent effort, the body adapts to these forces and our neuromuscular connections and muscles grow stronger resulting in our bodies moving in a more efficient way which means we can become less prone to injury over time.