Why coordination is important
Last time I wrote about flexibility, which is one of the base motricity skills. Today I want to talk about co-ordination, because this base motricitiy skill is quite important! A good coordination is needed for a good performance in whatever kind of sport you like to do.
Why coordination is important
Literally, coordination means aligning movements between muscles, but also between muscle fibers inside the muscles itself. Co-ordination has everything to do with the nervous system, which includes your brain, spine and nerves. When you are moving, your brain is constantly sending and receiving information from the peripheral nervous system. These nerves are transporting information from and to your muscles. If you have a good co-ordination, you probably also have a good balance, good exercise technique and fast responsiveness.
So why is coordination so important? Co-ordination has everything to do with technique. You can imagine, that when you have a poor technique, you’ll have a higher risk for injuries.
Besides that, poor technique mostly means: a lot of compensation factors. And when you are compensating during an exercise, you are not training the muscles you think you are training. So bad co-ordination also means poor results. We don’t want that, right?
So how to train your co-ordination? There are several ways to train your co-ordination. Typical co-ordination exercises consist of balance, quick responsiveness and dual tasks. I will share some fun and interesting workouts with you for some co-ordination inspiration!
The ladder
A typical co-ordination exercise is the ladder. It’s a flat ladder, laying on the ground. You have to step into the spaces of the ladder in different kind of patterns. This type of training is all about quick responsiveness. This video shows you some great ladder exercises:
These ladder exercises are perfect for soccer players to improve their dribbles, but also for figure skaters to improve their step sequences. But actually they are great and fun for everyone!
The exercise ball
Another way to train co-ordination is with the exercise ball. The exercise ball gives an extra instability factor to your performance. During this exercises your body is constantly fine tuning the movements you make: pure co-ordination! Here is a great inspirational video for working out with the exercise ball:
The Bosu ball
The bosu ball is also a great way to add some instability to your workouts and
improve your co-ordination. This video is really challenging and fun!
Other
As I said before, basically all exercises which ask fast responsiveness, balance and dual tasks are great coordinative exercises. Some other examples are: jumping squats, rope jumping and steps workouts, but I’m sure there is more to find out. Be creative!
Co-ordination exercises are my favourite kind of exercises at the gym. They are challenging and you always can make it harder for yourself by adding weights, making a bigger range of motions, performing quicker etc.
One of my personal favourites:
Steps to learn this exercise:
- Both legs on the exercise ball, hands on the floor.
- Both legs on the exercise ball, hands on your chest.
- Crossed legs on the exercise ball, hands on the floor.
- Crossed legs on the exercise ball, hands on your chest.
- Hands on your chest, lift 1 leg.
- Do the performance in this video!
I’m really curious about your experience with co-ordination training, so please share your experience and ask your questions below!
Keep it up, Fit Girls!
