The Importance of Jumping Through the Years

July 6, 2009 by Lorraine Cupido

Lorraine Cupido Bala Triathlon

I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago when my daughter and I went for a run and we decided to incorporate push-ups and lunges among other exercises into our workout.  Carla, my daughter, prepared to lead me in jumping squats up a flight of stairs.  That was when it happened… I simply couldn’t make myself jump without holding onto the hand rail.

I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I needed or wanted to jump.  None of the athletic activities I am currently involved in require me to leave the ground with both feet at the same time and especially not up a flight of stairs.

It has become apparent to me that we have to remind our brains how to do some very basic movements at different times in our lives.  I often walk along curbs and move as I would on a balance beam.  This is such a natural thing for me to do but it had not occurred to me to jump and it was obvious that I had become very rusty at a once simple task.  However, it only took a few attempts before I was easily jumping and very gracefully I might add.

I remind myself when the opportunity presents itself to balance, jump and catch et cetera.  I give myself the chance to move in different ways whether I am in the water, on a mat, running or playing a sport.

This experience was a reminder for me that as I age it is important for me to incorporate balancing, running/walking, jumping and eye/hand coordination activities into everyday of my life, after all I want to be a stable, strong and independent senior.