CHOOSING A FITNESS PROGRAMME 4: MOTOR SKILLS

Motor skills include the coordination, speed, power or agility required to complete an activity. There are six components of motor skills related to fitness. These are agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time and speed. A motor skill is associated with muscle activity. You carry out motor skills when your brain, nervous system and muscles work in harmony to move parts of your body in large or small movements. Motor skills improve with practice. These six components of motor skills define your athletic abilities. A well-rounded athlete seeks to constantly improve all six components equally.

Agility: is the ability to perform movements, quickly and in varied directions. Agility exercises are designed to enhance your speed and power. For example, changing directions to hit a tennis ball.

Balance: is your ability to stabilize your body while standing still or maintaining motion. Ice-skating, ballet, gymnastics skiing and bicycle riding are types of activities which require good balance. There are two types of balance – static and dynamic. Static balance refers to remaining upright while staying still, like standing on one leg, while dynamic balance deals with retaining balance while in motion.

Coordination: is the ability to move two or more body parts under control, smoothly and efficiently. Good coordination is vital for sports like tennis, baseball and squash. Professional dancing also requires good coordination.

Reaction Time: Reaction time measures how swiftly you interpret and then react to expected and unexpected events happening around you. An example of reaction time to an expected event is the amount of time between hearing the starter’s pistol and starting to run.

Speed: Speed is the ability to move your body swiftly. It is possible to improve on the components of reaction time and speed with one exercise, for example, sprinting.

Power: Power is essentially muscle strength. Weight lifting and strength training will help improve your power.

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NUTRITIONAL/HEALTH BENEFITS OF PLANTAINS

P lantains are widely eaten in West Africa. Plantains are similar to bananas but larger in size. While bananas are termed fruits, plantains are vegetables. Bananas are mostly eating raw, while plantains are usually cooked before consumption. Plantains can be eaten unripe, ripen or over-ripe. When unripe, plantains are usually green in colour, when ripen, they turn yellow. In Nigeria, for example, unripe plantains are usually used to cook plantain porridge, ripe plantains are mostly fried and used as a supplement to main dishes like rice and beans. Over-ripe plantains are used to make snacks like plantain fritters.

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS OF ZOBO/SORREL DRINK

z obo/sorrel was a must have during family gatherings. As children, we loved drinking it, not only because of how nice it tasted, but also because it coloured our lips and tongues red. Zobo (Nigerian) or Sorrel (Jamaican) is a red coloured drink made from a flower called Hibiscus sabdariffa. The sorrel plant contains a wide range of vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, calcium, niacin, riboflavin and a group of compounds called flavonoids. Flavanoids not only gives the sorrel plant its deep red colour, but, are also rich in antioxidants which rids the body of toxins. The sorrel plant also contains nutraceleuticals, which are said to be helpful to the health. Nutraceleuticals can help prevent and treat several diseases including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF LIME AND HONEY

L ime and Honey are two must haves in my house. I use honey as a substitute for white sugar. I remember a friend of mine visited me once and she wanted to drink garri (drinking garri is local to Nigerians, i.e. eating dried cassava with cold water as opposed to hot water), she was astonished when I told her to use honey to sweeten her garri. I'm not a tea person, but my parents are, and a cup of tea for them is not complete without limes.

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