Today, I am thankful for those who jump to new heights by the most innovative means.
Maintaining sanity in the midst of one’s daily chores can be an awesome challenge. I’ve encountered my share of anguish and emotional fatigue in navigating my litany of responsibilities, especially as I feebly attempt to juggle family, career, and social obligations. So, in the midst of my daily pursuits, I have found it necessary that I dedicate at least 60 minutes each day to the one activity I perform solely for my own personal wellbeing – exercising. My relief from the stress of my endless responsibilities is properly kept in check if I can hop on the elliptical machine or treadmill for an hour each morning, especially before my endless array of teleconferences, face-to-face meetings, and document reviews. However, on those rare occasions that I do not have access to a gym (as remains the case with the recent COVID-19 pandemic), I turn to exercises one can do without ultra-fancy, high-tech fitness equipment. Many of these activities, like jogging, sit-ups, push-ups, and jumping jacks are aerobic skills I learned in physician education (PE) classes early in elementary school.
I always found the ‘jumping jack’ exercise the most entertaining of them all. Known also as ‘star jumps’ and ‘side-straddle hops’, jumping jacks are often used as a ‘warm up’ activity. However, research has shown that doing 3 sets of 50 jumping jacks each day has far reaching benefits. By its simple aerobic nature, the exercise improves cardiac and pulmonary functioning. Yet, at the same time, the exercise augments flexibility, enhances equilibrium, and helps tone muscles. Finally, jumping jacks have been demonstrated in clinical trials to improve bone mineral density, thereby reducing one’s risk for bone fractures and osteoporosis. Ironically, the exercise’s name comes from an old European toy in existence for thousands of years. These simple wood figures have the limbs of a person (aptly named Jack) tied to string, so that when the string is pulled, the arms and legs move in a synchronous fashion. Best of all, the jumping jack is the only activity I know that allows one to reach for the sky while also showing one’s approval with a hearty clap at the height of the jump.
All this discussion of ‘jumping jacks’ has me thinking about the ability of humans to reach new heights. For many centuries, humans have been dreaming of ways to climb into the sky. Back in the 15th Century, Leonardo da Vinci devised numerous vehicles that might allow for humans to fly up into the sky, and then return to Earth on their volition. He tried them all out (unsuccessfully). In fact, it wasn’t until the French invented the hot air balloon in the early 1780s that humans literally figured out a way to climb into the atmosphere. In fact, during this exact week in October 1783, the first manned balloon flight was performed, wherein a tethered balloon climbed up to the length of the rope – 85 feet into the sky. Eventually, with the advent of hydrogen gas technology, the French mastered flying untethered. However, the ability to reach extreme heights was still limited because one could never predict where one might land.
This problem would eventually be solved with the assistance of another invention – the parachute – first conceived by none other than (who else?) Leonardo da Vinci. The same year of the first human balloon flight also witnessed the first version of parachuting, when Frenchman Louis-Sebastian Lenormand created a 14-foot parachute and jumped out of the tower of the Montpellier Observatory in December 1783.
However, it would be another decade before the first true ‘Jumping Jack’ would materialize. Andres Jacques Garnerin, known to most as Jacques, would create the first successful use of a parachute from none other than a hydrogen balloon. Educated as a physicist, Garnerin fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, where he was unfortunately captured by the British and incarcerated as a prisoner of war in Hungary. While behind the large ramparts of the prison, he got the idea of creating a large enough parachute, similar to the one fancied by Leonardo, that might allow someone to fall safely, and in a controlled fashion, from extreme heights. So, when he was finally released and returned to France, he began developing parachutes large enough that might allow him to climb thousands of feet in the air and then navigate his way safely down to Earth. On this day (Oct 22) in 1797, Garnerin attached his closed parachute to a basket that was also attached to a hydrogen balloon. After the balloon ascended to 3,200 feet, he severed the rope connecting the balloon. As the balloon floated away, his parachute opened and he began to plummet to the Earth. For the next few minutes, he oscillated wildly in his descent before landing, unscathed. In due time, he’d learn to circumvent the wild oscillations by including an air vent at the top of the parachute, thereby allowing him to reach heights over a mile in the air. In fact, by 1802, he was able to control descents to a desired location from as high as 8,000 feet. Eventually with the advent of flight, the parachute became more sophisticated and portable in nature, eventually finding itself as a useful implement in Air Forces throughout the world.
So, as you wake up today and perform your daily retinue of exercises, never forget to reach for the skies. Jump as high as you can because you’ll never know exactly where you might reach, if you don’t try.
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