As I indicated earlier in my recent online existence I had changed my exercise regime to one that merged my boxing with my kettlebell lifting.
And it has been wunderbah . Lots of fun and a daily challenge negotiated in around 15-20 minutes.
However, the challenge of also stretching as well as exerting myself in a series of active physiology zones has played havoc with my tired old body. It feels as though I've been sweeping up all my stiffness and connective tissue tightness into a few languid and very lazy corners of my body. There I'm suffering from gridlock each day as though I'm walking around with these over bearing weights on my shoulders and across my pelvic floor.
That's the irony of stretching especially when you consider that I am so stiff because of my fibromylagia that I cannot get my proprioception to go that extra centimetre to negotiate a truly healing stretch.
Proprioception (pronounced /ˌproʊpri.ɵˈsɛpʃən/ PRO-pree-o-SEP-shən), from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own" and perception, is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body. Unlike the exteroceptive senses by which we perceive the outside world, and interoceptive senses, by which we perceive the pain and movement of internal organs, proprioception is a third distinct sensory modality that provides feedback solely on the status of the body internally. It is the sense that indicates whether the body is moving with the required effort, as well as where the various parts of the body are located in relation to each other.
Nonetheless I'm told that my body profile is changing so something -- perhaps something good-- must be happening.
In frustration I've turned to the gymball to foster my healing. While the ball at times may seem to protrude from your behind like a giant hemorrhoid I have been sitting on one at the computer for years rather than use a chair.
But now I pick up my 'seat' and do exotic dance with it: take up our gymball and walk, hallelujah
Since I have a background in martial arts Tai chi Chuan -- all of 20 years ago! -- I love the way that the ball eases you into position of outreach, by encouraging you to adopt some very odd positions relative to your own body mass and gravity. In that sense gymballing has a lot in common with yoga and Pilates.
But without any mumbo jumbo rationale other than playing a sort of Buster Keaton role as an off sider to the device. If Bismarck said that you can do anything with a bayonet except sit on it -- well, with the gymball you can do that too.
The advantage is that rather than simply trying to convince your body parts to move from A to B --as you do when you attempt a stretch -- you trick them by asking them to move a tool from A to B and we hominids cannot help ourselves and simply love playing around with tools.
The option is to also do some of the stretching ball rolling stuff while seated at the computer desk.
So at under $15 from Big W or where ever, the frustrating blowing up of the balloon is soon enough compensated for by its functionality.
Maybe I should start replacing every chair in the house with blow up balls...
