As you can see, Jack isn’t so fit; but as long as we continue to learn and practice being fit ourselves, Jack too will become healthier and stronger. Despite the rest of his body, Jack looks like he has a big, strong heart. And he does! That's because in our last fitness class two weeks ago we learned how to make our heart muscle stronger by doing cardio exercises-- Jack has been doing cardio ever since! Amongst others, he loves biking to school, running on the playground with his friends, and dancing to fun music. What cardio activities do you like to do? [Share them in the comments section at the bottom of this post!]
In our cardio fitness class we practiced a bunch of different sports including..
- Basketball
- Running
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Skiing
- Biking
- Rock climbing
- Dancing
We felt our heart beat faster, which made it a great workout and tons of fun!
In this week's fitness class, we learned about our quadricep muscles ['quads', for short], which are located in our upper legs/thighs. Can you tap your quads?
We practiced different movements in which we use our quads and then brainstormed together when we actually do them:
- Running: in the park; on the playground; playing basketball, soccer, tag..
- Jumping: with a jumprope; while dancing; when we're happy or excited..
- Squatting: when we go sit down in a chair or on the floor; reach for something on a low shelf; say hello to a baby..
- Rising: get up from a chair or the floor; climb stairs..
All of these movements had something in common, which the quads were responsible for: extending our knees. Try sitting in a chair, squeeze your quads, then extend your leg up: you should feel your quads tighten and stiff-- that means they're working. Otherwise, there's this next activity..
After the mini-cardio training of our quads we had this awesome 'wall-sitting contest'.
It was hard..
- legs in a 'right angle' position
- knees above ankles
- knees and feet-- shoulder-width apart [not touching]
- back straight, up against the wall
- hands to the side
After the tightening, burning, and strengthening of our quads, we finally got to stretch them out so they wouldn't be [as] sore later..
Then, as if that weren't enough, we got to learn a cool new sport called fencing!
Fencing is a sport where two people compete by trying to touch each other with their sword. For protection, masks, gloves, and body suits have to be worn.
Fencing is great for the quads. When lunging and even when in 'en garde' [a still, ready] position, the quads are being used. That's because one is more stable when the knees are bent and one's body [or center of gravity] is lower to the ground.
Jumping, too, is sometimes a part of fencing movements..
If you want to watch some fencing in action, check out this video clip from the 2004 Olympics..
Some things to note before you do..
- Players fence on a 'strip', if your feet go off the strip, the player is considered out of bounds.
- The gentleman in the front is the referee-- he tells the fencers when to fence and calls the actions.
- On the other side of the strip are two light posts, one for each player. If the light is colored, then that means the player touched the other player on target. If the light is white, then that means the player touched the other off target. It's a little hard to see the posts from the video, but if you see the green Olympic box, there are two light posts attached to it.
- Notice how low the fencers stance/movements are. They've got really strong quads, huh?..
When I learned how to fence, we didn't get swords and masks and the other equipment until we practiced enough of our posture and 'footwork', lots of..: advance, advance, retreat, retreat, lunge! So practice now, practice with each other, practice often, then maybe one day you'll be able to compete! And don't forget to stretch out your quads-- to prevent soreness and injury. En garde!
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