This summer, the news was reporting that researchers have found that people who couldn’t stand on one foot for ten seconds were nearly twice as likely to die in the next ten years than people who could. Anne and I were able to still pass this test, but at least for me, just barely. As we continue to get on in years, it is not hard to see that eventually, we might not be able to still pass. Falling is a major danger for the elderly.

To address this concern, we have returned to the Gyrotonics lab that we had not visited since before the pandemic, but instead of doing Gyrotonics per se, we are taking a balance class. Last week, only Anne and I were in class. This week a third person joined the class. Covid sensitive people can participate over Zoom. Marcia, our instructor uses a piece of equipment called a Beamfit beam. Unfortunately, that company has gone out of business, but still lives on, on the Internet.

Here is a video that features their equipment. It is a gray trapezoidal column that lays flat to the ground. It is somewhat squishy when you step on it, leading to the need for some balancing to stay upright. The level of exercise in this first video is way above what we have been doing and may not be ever obtainable by us, but it shows the beam being used. Occasionally, you can detect a wobble though. This second video is closer to the level of exercises that we do, but I feel that we are more advanced than what is shown there. We do use a stick, but mostly have both feet on the beam. We have only gone twice so far, so it is still too early to notice improvement, but hopefully our balance will get better and not worst.