Dog Vs. Runner

#RunnerProbs

The other day I decided to try something new. I decided to try a morning run. I got up at the crack of dawn and patted myself on the back for beating the neighbors AND the sun out of bed. I stumbled out of the house into the dark and down the road. I’m pretty sure my legs were running on autopilot. I couldn't see much in between the morning haze and my half-closed eyelids, let alone recall how I exited the house.

I forget that I’m not the only one who gets inspired to greet the dawn of a cheery new day. I also forget that some people are rudely awakened by an alarm (to beat the garbage man to the end of their driveway with yesterday’s trash). And most importantly, I forget that along with early morning comes the hour of the dog. The hour that dogs spend all night anticipating by lying in front of the door, just waiting for the master of the house to arise from his slumber and open the door. If Master pushes the snooze button just once, Dog is compelled to remind the snoring humanoid just how small his bladder really is.

I’m pounding the pavement rhythmically. As if from a dream, I hear muffled noises. I am struggling to focus through the narrow slits of my eyelids. I keep pounding. I am blasted to reality by barking on my right. My eyes fly open and I whirl to face whatever it was that was responsible for disturbing my morning tranquility. I see a large barking machine and I am instantly flooded with memories of “The Beast” from The Sandlot.

Instinct tells me to gun it and run faster. But I look at the massive paws. There are four of them. I look down at my two trainers and I remember that dogs have twice as many legs as I. As much as I would like to think otherwise, I wouldn't even bet on myself to outrun a dog.

I stop. And just like out of an old spaghetti western we freeze and measure each other up. I can almost hear the tune from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly playing in the background. The mutt licks his chops and one disgusting slobber of drool drips to the ground. I raise my right hand to stop my stopwatch. The ‘beep’ brings on another round of barking. The owner, panting, runs up and yells at him. I learn that the beast is named Freddy. Perhaps it is because I am still half asleep or perhaps it is because I have learned such an intimate detail about this hunk of fur, but I realize that I feel a sense of power over him. I am not afraid.

The master yells at me. “Don’t worry! Freddy won’t hurt you! Just walk away.”

I look at the dog and resist the urge to stick out my tongue. And I walk away. Five steps in, I break into a trot. I am wide awake the rest of the run.

This blog was contributed by Stephanie Berger, a Public Relations and Marketing intern at Hedstrom - Ball, Bounce and Sport. She studies at the University of South Carolina and is addicted to breakfast foods and sunshine.

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How Do Children BOSU?

The BOSU® Balance Trainer is an effective tool that is often utilized by a wide range of athletes and adults as part of a training routine. When using the Balance Trainer, your body is forced to recruit numerous core and stabilizing muscles in order to balance. This development of balance, core strength and coordination is important for even the most novice workout enthusiast.

Overlooked is the importance of developing all of those same skills in children. One additional benefit of using the BOSU® Balance Trainer, especially, for children, is its ability to encourage the engagement of something called the vestibular system. The vestibular system, while it sounds complicated, is basically responsible for helping us to maintain control and awareness of where our body is in space. This system also plays a behind-the-scenes role in stabilizing vision and balance.

With a growing number of children being diagnosed every day with conditions, such as Autism, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, etc., there is more and more awareness of the importance of the vestibular system. To put it simply, for an individual to respond appropriately to sights, sounds or even touches their vestibular system needs to be “turned on.” The common thread with many of the above diagnoses and learning disorders is a dysfunction of the vestibular system; thus, making it very difficult for these children to navigate basic everyday situations.

Many interventions for children use items like swings or trampolines to stimulate the vestibular system. The challenge is these methods only address input in one plane of gravity. As we go through daily life, none of us moves within one plane of space. Typical movement integrates all three planes: horizontal, vertical, and sagittal. The answer? The BOSU® Balance Trainer! The Balance Trainer is so versatile with the positions in when it can be used and the endless activities that can be safely performed that it is easy to provide the vestibular input needed in each plane.     

The most appealing part of using the BOSU® Balance Trainer with children: it is really fun! Because of the myriad of safe activities, all of which have significant benefits, children can be creative and make up their own games using the Balance Trainer. Play with the BOSU® Balance Trainer is purposeful, meaningful, imaginative and, most importantly, FUN. The Balance Trainer activities have so many inherent benefits for children they should be a staple in every child’s play routine!



Written by: Kim Partlow, MAOT CNFT
C.E.O. Neuro-Fit Systems, Inc.

@NeuroFitSystems

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