Assess Your Balance

FitnessTop Levelfalsefalsetruefalse3Assess Your BalanceAssess Your BalanceAssess Your BalanceOften overlooked by everyone except gym teachers, balance is a key component of overall physical fitness—explicitly, say, when you're in a yoga class working on tree or a similar pose. But balance has a more implicit role in most all sports.Often overlooked by everyone except gym teachers, balance is a key component of overall physical fitness—explicitly, say, when you're in a yoga class working on tree or a similar pose. But balance has a more implicit role in most all sports, where a lack of it will unnecessarily complicate tossing a tennis ball for your serve, making a difficult catch, or maneuvering your way up a rock wall.1By Diane Vadino for MSN Health & FitnessMSN Health & Fitness Exclusive/74/743391E6E4CEF7F605DD4D2A8D5270.gif1044000false#000000© MSNPfalseOften overlooked by everyone except gym teachers, balance is a key component of overall physical fitness—explicitly, say, when you're in a yoga class working on tree or a similar pose. But balance has a more implicit role in most all sports, where a lack of it will unnecessarily complicate tossing a tennis ball for your serve, making a difficult catch, or maneuvering your way up a rock wall.This test is maybe a little more challenging than it might first look. You'll need a stop watch and a clean floor that isn’t slippery. (A partner to start the stopwatch would be ideal.) Take off your shoes and put your hands on your hips. Raise one knee and place your foot against the inside of your knee on your standing leg. Give yourself a moment to practice your balance, and then start timing yourself as you lift your heel and balance on the ball of your foot. Stop timing if you move your hands from your hips, if your raised leg moves out of position, or if your heel hits the floor.Scoring: The total time in seconds is recorded. The score is the best of three attempts.The table below lists general ratings for this test.RatingScoreExcellent     > 50Good40 - 50Average25 - 39Fair10 - 24Poor< 10Source: Johnson BL, Nelson JK. Practical measurements for evaluation in physical education, 4th Edit. Minneapolis: Burgess, 1979.Diane Vadino has written about fashion, travel and film for magazines like Nylon, Spin and ID. Her debut novel, Smart Girls Like Me, will be published in September.Root/Format/ArticleLatino_Health/Keywords/En forma/Yoga18falsefalsefalse197truefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalse1