I am starting to get addicted to balance training, and might have gone off the deep end. I picked up a bosu first and like it, but it’s just a big too big to store where I can easily use it. I next picked up a heavy ball and spend TV time in the evenings standing on top of it (with breaks). It’s incredibly simplistic, but fun. You can really feel all of the little-muscles-you-didn’t-know-you-have working together to keep you on the ball. It’s also a great foot strengthening exercise, and a nice complement to barefoot/minimal shoe running.
So I thought with summer happening I would take the fun outside, and I picked up a unicycle and some Freeline skates. I got good deals on Craigslist on both, because they are incredibly difficult to learn, and a lot of people throw in the towel. I’m at the pre-natal stages of learning both, but it’s fun. Again, I can definitely feel the micro-muscles working and this is cross-training works muscles I KNOW I don’t use at anything else.
If nothing else, I think its exciting to leave the comfort zone and try something challenging and new. Even if these are goofball things to try, they are stretch goals for me nonetheless and will require patience and physicial training to become proficient. And that’s its own reward.
Run Like Monkey 