“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
Jack jumped over the candlestick.”
When we think of the physical aspects of Health and Fitness, we most often think in terms of strength and endurance; weights and treadmills.
Just as important as strength, is “Agility” — the ability to move around quickly and easily. Nimbleness. Gracefulness. Agility is defined as “having the characteristics of speed, coordination, and the ability to react quickly and appropriately to change.”
The ability to shift direction, to change positions, and do it “smartly” is critical for fall recovery. An agile Senior can move in any direction quickly and easily, can shift positions and catch themselves if they get out of position. You need agility to dodge cars while you’re crossing the street.
Yes, you must have leg strength to be agile. You must be able to use your legs to change direction and shift positions. Leg strength and agility are critical if you start to fall and you will use both to interrupt the fall.
Running backs in football are agile. They can shift direction and turn on a dime to escape being tackled. Other sports such as tennis and basketball require a constant shifting of direction and the ability to react quickly to change.
How to become agile? Leg strength is the first requirement. To be able to make a quick change of speed or direction takes leg strength. But that’s not all. You must be flexible so you can bend and twist as you change directions. You must have a strong core to remain stable. You must have speed and be able to change velocity quickly. All this takes practice — a lot of practice.
Starting and stopping quickly, changing direction quickly, bending and twisting while in motion, are life skills and athletic skills that seniors need to be able to practice with a moderate skill level. It’s most important when catching a fall but can be useful for survival skills and at other times too.
Agility is a not a difficult skill for most of us to develop but there aren’t a lot of opportunities to practice making sudden shifts in directions without being noticed by the neighbors. But I can offer this. Strengthen your legs. I have provided some suggestions in recent articles. Practice walking and making sudden starts and stops and changes in directions. And take it easy your knees. Don’t worry about the neighbors.
Want real agility? Chase your young grandchildren around for a while. You’ll get all the starting, stopping and changes in direction you’ll ever need. See, agility is a useful skill.
Thank you for reading.