Physical Literacy - Session 13

Skill Focus: Balance and Stability Challenge

This is one of the more challenging sessions we’ll complete. It can be frustrating or uncomfortable feeling unstable or unable to balance. Use this session to challenge yourself based on what you’ve learned about your body since the first time we worked on balance and stability. Can you hold a pose a little longer or do a few more reps? Can you challenge yourself even more by making the exercises harder? 

Value: Play What You See

What a fantastic, fun session to try new things as you try to keep your balance! Can you flow from one exercise into the next and play what you see to stay stable, or do you need to reset after each one? Everyone is different and you can experience differences in balance day to day or even side to side, so make sure you’re in tune with your own body as you move through this session and adjust your workout based on what it is telling you! 

Opening Community Circle

  • Call your life play - on a scale of 1-5 how are you feeling today? 
  • What challenges will you set for yourself today in order to improve on the last balance and stability session? 
  • What are some examples of how you Play What You See outside of physical fitness sessions? 

Warm-up #1

This is a general, dynamic warm-up that is great to use ahead of any session. View in the Warm-Up Library.

Skill Focus: Balance and Stability Challenge

Demonstrate each exercise after the warmup as a refresher. This session allows for a lot of individual choice! A great way to adapt each exercise is to hold or pause each movement at the top or the bottom to increase difficulty and really work the student’s balance. By slowing it down it makes the movement more focused. 

Students can choose to repeat one exercise after another in a circuit fashion or complete a pre-determined number of reps and sets of each exercise before moving on to the next one.

Students should utilize their fitness journal to document success and RPE. Click on each exercise for a video demonstration.  

  1. Single Leg Half Squat “T’s” 
  2. Superman  
  3. Side Plank Rotation 
  4. Standing Knee to elbows 
  5. Standing Single Leg Deadlift 
  6. Plank side crunches 
  7. Single Leg Hip Bridge 

Varations to Increase/Reduce Difficulty

  • Increase/reduce range of motion 
  • Slow down/speed up movement 
  • Add weight/resistance
  • Increase/reduce number of reps/distance 

Cool Down # 2

This cool down involves stretching in place. Students should find a comfortable spot where they have enough room to stretch from head to toe. View in the Cool Down Library.

Closing Community Circle

  • Call your life play - on a scale of 1-5 how are you feeling after this session? 
  • Were you able to achieve the challenges you set for yourself at the beginning of the session?
  • How did you have to adapt to what your body was telling you throughout the session?