Unexpected lesson (by Tony Ludlow

15 By Tony Ludlow Ph.D. Candidate, Health and Human Performance One of the greatest wide receivers to ever play football was Lynn Swann, from Alcoa, Tennessee.

Swann was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 1974 NFL draft. With the Steelers, Swann won four Super Bowls, was selected to three Pro Bowls, and was named MVP of Super Bowl X. Swann was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

But there was another thing Lynn Swann was famous for. He took ballet for years as a means to be more athletic and agile. He even appeared on “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood” to talk about his love for ballet. Since then, hundreds of NFL players have augmented their athleticism with the movements of ballet, tap, and other forms of physical movement requiring agilities beyond those you would normally expect from a football player.

Exercise science has identified 5 different aspects or elements of physical fitness:

1. Muscle strength and stamina 2. Cardiorespiratory/cardiovascular strength and stamina 3. Flexibility 4. Balance and ... 5. Agility Every backpacking trip my wife Ashley and I have taken challenged each of those elements. Some trips more than others. In late December we backpacked 33 miles in southern Virginia climbing and descending the 3 highest peaks in the state. All 5 elements were thoroughly taxed and necessary.

I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve relied on our agility training on the trail not to fall. Last week, we hiked in the snow on top of Mt. Lemmon near Tucson, covering a section of the Arizona Trail. Without that agility training, we’d have gone down! A lot!

A friend and member of our boot camp family was on a business trip and had to check in to his Hampton Inn hotel room carrying all of his luggage and gear. He didn’t want to set anything down in front of his room door and opted to contort himself into a pretzel, to slide his keycard into the slot while holding onto everything. How many of us do this? (Me, raising my hand!) Of course, he had trouble doing it. We all do. The card is upside down and you get the red light. Or the card is turned the wrong way and you get the red light.

Finally, after a couple of tries, and while still holding onto all of his stuff in some odd-looking yoga pose, he managed to get in the door, doing a spin move that would make Lamar Jackson proud. But in the process, the long strap from his clothing bag got tangled in his feet and he found himself doing one of our agility moves I call The Huntsville Hop. By this time he’d managed to get into the room and close enough to the bed to throw himself on it, luggage and all. No harm, no foul. Face-plant and a trip to the minor emergency clinic averted. The other day, I was unloading the groceries from the truck to take them into the house. And of course, I’m NOT going to take two trips! (And neither are you!) So, I hung those flimsy plastic bags from every limb of my body and involved every finger on both hands. It had been raining and the steps to the porch and front door were wet and I slipped going up the steps, but the move I did would have made Lynn Swann proud. However, once inside and safe and with only one bag in my hands, I managed to drop the carton of eggs on the floor. Four broke. Guess what I had for dinner while Ashley was still in Tucson? That’s right, scrambled eggs!

Fitness is much much more than running, or lifting weights, or cycling, or swimming. It’s being fit for life and living.

Being healthy means not being sick or at risk. Being fit, however, means working at and practicing those five components regularly, if not daily. Being fit speaks to our quality of life. It won’t make us immortal, but it ensures we live our lives with as few physical restrictions as possible. When life calls, I like to say “HELL, YEAH!” Don't you?