Equilibrium
libre 10
Equilibristics is the art of keeping balance when the body is unstable, such as standing on a rope or ball. 
Doesn't everyone agree with this? Do some of you think that some animals run faster or jump higher? That's not quite true, or rather, not at all. And here's why. Once upon a time, a long time ago, many millions of years ago, man began to move not on four, but on two limbs. The load on the legs, accordingly, doubled: each of them carried not one fourth of the body weight, but half of it.
The legs of man became stronger than the legs of a four-legged animal. After all, in addition to the need to hold the weight of the body when standing or push it while walking, there was also a need for fast running without the help of hands. Man had to be able to jump in height to, for example, pluck a fruit from a tree, jump in length to overcome a ditch or a stream.
This pushing power became quite significant. Much greater than that of any animal. Here's the simple proof. Everyone has seen athletes jumping long in stadiums.
We told you what a wonderful success our athlete Igor Ter-Hovhannisyan achieved: he jumped 8 meters 35 centimeters. Many athletes already jump 8 meters in length, pushing off, of course, with one leg.
But no animal, whose weight is equal to the weight of a man, can not overcome in a jump twice the distance, that is, jump in height by 4, and in length by 16 meters (because four-legged animals push off usually with two legs, not one).
Human leg strength
The strength of human legs has increased many times over. Think of competitions, even ordinary training of weightlifters. After all, a weightlifter, for example, heavy weight can lift a barbell about 400 kilograms.
If to this add his own weight, equal to about 100 kilograms, it turns out that his legs can withstand almost 500 kilograms - five times his body weight. It is unlikely that even the strongest four-legged animal can cope with 10 times its own weight. But human leg muscles have not only great strength, but also extremely fine regulation, which is very clearly manifested in keeping balance.
After all, the center of gravity of the body is quite high above the ground, approximately somewhere in the region of the sacrum, just below the waist. And the area of support - the feet and the space between them - is very small. Every schoolchild knows that balance is more stable the lower the center of gravity of the body and the larger the area of support.
And animals, and even birds, thanks to the spread five toes of each foot to keep balance is much easier than a person. Although some people have had great success in equilibrium. Try to put your companion still and look closely at how he stands: you may notice that he is always a little swaying.
And if he closes his eyes, this swaying becomes bigger. Such oscillations are the result of the continuous work of the leg muscles that maintain balance. It's not available to any animal. True, and the man it is given not without difficulty, many years of training. 
After all, they perform very difficult exercises, touching the beam only part of the foot. And dancers on the wire? It is not without reason that such numbers used to be loudly called "miracles of equilibrium".
Of course, no animal can perform such movements. This ability has been cultivated in humans for centuries. But daily training also plays a big role. If you do not train the ability to maintain balance for a long time, it is sharply reduced, weakened. It happens that due to illness a person has to lie in bed for a long time - sometimes for more than one month.
The first time he gets on his feet, it is as if he has to learn to walk again. And it's not because his legs have weakened. He has lost his former ability to control his balance, he has weakened the so-called musculo-articular sense, which is especially strong in circus performers, ballet masters, gymnasts, skiers, figure skaters.
