Weight, Balance & Adam Swimming

January 12, 2003

I've wanted to add to the discussion on weight gain, and how it affects

balance, mobility, etc. I've never had a problem with weight, but like most

CMT-ers, I've had balance problems forever. Just before i was diagnosed with

CMT I began working on my balance - which I thought was caused by my very

skinny, weak ankles.

I started by balancing on one foot (while brushing my teeth, or watching

TV), and then progressed to sitting or kneeling on an exercise ball. What

I've found, and research will back it up, is that there are a lot of muscle

groups involved in balance, and not all are located in the lower limbs.

We've all heard the fitness catch phrase, " core strength " , meaning the trunk

muscles, well training those muscles has really helped my balance. I'm no

ballerina (6'4 " , 206 pounds, male), but I'm more confident.

I've heard that balance, as a skill, can be learned quite quickly.

Plus I wanted to respond to Adam's Mom about swimming. I think it's

interesting that alot of people on this list have swimming backgrounds. I'd

guess we gravitated to the sport because of what CMT does to us. My opinion

is that Adam should definitely be swimming. I'm a swim coach in Canada, and

I see swim programs for people with all sorts of abilities and disabilities.

There's even a classification for people with CMT in the Para-Olympics (if

Adam would be motivated by an Olympic Gold medal....).

Just my 2 cents. Sorry I took so long to make my point.

don mulhall

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