As far as "survival" skills go, I am not sure if this week's HomeWork counts or not...
Speaking with a patient last week about the physical activity and/or functional fitness of children, I was reminded of small kids ability to hang on to an object. Specifically their ability to support their own body weight and hang from a bar. Talk about grip strength...
That conversation reminded me of the "Station 39 Olympics".
These were a few exercises that we did at Station 39 (the Fire Station where I work) years ago to test our unique physical talents and/or strengths. I say unique because we were attempting to find unusual feats that were fun as well as demanding. Hanging from a bar and "going around the table" were a couple of my personal favorites. I will go into detail about "going around the table" at a later date.
I somehow have a sense that the ability to hang on and support our own body weight might be a useful ability to have in case of some crazy emergency. Mt Rainer (insert the nearest appropriate volcanic mountain) erupts and a wave of lava cascades down through your neighborhood and your only escape is to hang form a tree branch and let the lava flow beneath you.
The question is, "can we hang on long enough for the lava to stop flowing and cool down enough to walk on it?"
I know this seems a bit ridiculous, so I will let you come up with your own survival scenario that includes hanging from an object for a length of time...
For this week, our HomeWork is to literally "hang on".
Find a pull-up bar (preferrably only a few inches higher than you) and see how long you can 'hang on', literally, to the bar with your feet off the ground. It doesn't matter what type of grip you use, or if you want to do pull ups while you hang their. Just as long as you hang form the bar and not touch the ground and/or do not pull yourself up and prop yourself on the bar. Simply using your hands to grip the bar, how long can you hang on?
Time yourself and write it down. We may do this again in a year and compare.
Have a great week hanging out,
MRoss
