This underwear self-audit sparked a few questions: What can I do now to preserve the strength, flexibility and balance that allows me to slip into my trusty Mack Weldons? How might nurturing those same abilities pay off in other areas of life for the decades ahead? The answers led me to put together what I\u2019ve dubbed the underwear fitness test.<\/p>\n
How I Put on My Underwear<\/p>\n
Sorry to disappoint, reader, no video here. Just action verbs. Step one: I stand on one leg. Step two: I pick the opposite leg up off the ground and slip it through its corresponding hole in the undies. Step three: I transfer all the weight, heaving the other leg through the other hole in a quick high-knee maneuver. Step four: I dance. Sometimes.<\/p>\n
Great. Why Is That Impressive?<\/p>\n
It depends on how you look at it. To most of the Millennial and Gen Z set, no, I don\u2019t think that description reads as all that impressive. Adults do all sorts of quotidian athletic things as they rush around their homes, getting ready for school or work. Someone older than me, though, who puts on their underwear in bed, on the couch or while leaning against a doorframe for support, might think: Huh, been a while since I went full \u201cpraying mantis\u201d while putting on boxer briefs.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because the action is \u201can intricate computation of neuromuscular coordination and immediate decision making,\u201d to borrow some analysis from Tenacious Fitness<\/a>. <\/p>\n Putting on underwear while standing on one leg is a test of one\u2019s balance, flexibility, core strength and, specifically, proprioception, which is your body\u2019s sense of position in space. If your proprioception has lost its way (which is highly common<\/a> in aging populations), it\u2019s possible you wouldn\u2019t be able to stay upright during that mid-leg-swing, when the other leg is trying to land safely in the underwear.<\/p>\n The stakes here are higher<\/a> than most of us realize. Someone over the age of 65 falls down every second in the United States. These falls break arms, rob seniors of their independence and dignity, and sometimes even prove fatal. But zeroing in on a simple task like getting dressed can help us contextualize the issue, and prepare accordingly.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t How to Improve Your \u201cUnderwear Fitness\u201d<\/p>\n Before you do anything else, I want you to change your underwear. Do you put it on like me? If not, are you able to? Did you ace the jumping move, or wobble around a little bit?<\/p>\n Looking forward, I\u2019d recommend penciling in the following exercises to bolster not only your underwear fitness, but your longevity, too: <\/p>\n Single-leg exercises: Standing leg lifts, step-ups and single-leg reaches train balance and coordination<\/p>\n Hip and hamstring mobility work: Gentle stretches, yoga flows and dynamic lunges help keep your lower body nimble<\/p>\n Core activation: Planks, side planks and seated core twists strengthen the muscles that stabilize your torso<\/p>\n Proprioception practice: Standing on a cushion, closing your eyes while balancing and walking heel-to-toe along a line all fine-tune your body\u2019s internal GPS<\/p>\n The end of days awaits us all, but before that will be many, many troublesome mornings. Accept that now, and you won\u2019t have to stumble through them.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMeet your guide<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTanner Garrity<\/p>\n Tanner Garrity is a senior editor at InsideHook, where he\u2019s covered wellness, travel, sports and pop culture since 2017. He also authors The Charge, InsideHook\u2019s weekly wellness newsletter. Beyond the newsroom, he can usually be found running, skating, reading, writing fiction or playing tennis. He lives in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tMore from Tanner Garrity \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore Like This<\/p>\n
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