I've never been what you would call a skilled athlete. I'm more of an athlete by force of will. In other words, I'm not naturally good at anything athletic. I dont' run very well, I can't do gymnastics or throw a ball well. I'm just not built for it. I'm sort of a pickup truck instead of a sleek Ferrari.
One athletic thing I've always avoided whenever possible (there are many things!) is anything involving jumping. Track and field, basketball, hell even gym class calisthenics were the bane of my existence in high school. I decided that maybe I couldn't change that but I could at least make it a little better by working on doing it all the time. Practice makes perfect, right? Perfection most likely will elude me but perhaps I could learn to do it without fear, trepidation and damaging my ankles. I'd like to at least be able to do jumping jacks and burpees safely and confidently. Not happening the way I am now.
Here's the plan. On the days I go out for my walk, I will do calf raises with an ankle pop (raising up quickly with force) to strengthen those joints and then just do some simple jumping. I'll work on springing up (eventually bringing my knees up too) and landing as softly as possible, not jarring the knees and ankles. I'm doing this on grassy surfaces. I tried it on pavement and that's a big N to the O for that. I figure it will take a long time to build up the strength to jump and the feel of landing properly. I'm looking at this as a performance goal that I can count towards a daily win.
It seems like a small thing but I'll take my wins where I can get them.
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