Copyright 2006 John Perry
Stephen Covey (http://www.stephencovey.com/) told us to "beginwith the end in mind."
Have you ever heard "train with the brain in mind?"
Growing up, I would get the latest issue of Muscle and Fitnessand plug away at biceps, triceps and chest routines. Whatresulted was frustration due to lack of performance enhancementand usually an overuse injury or two.
After becoming a Physical Therapist and gaining the knowledge ofhow the body operates, it became apparent why I had so muchtrouble meeting my fitness goals growing up and why I hadinjuries.
I was confusing my brain.
The brain is our guardian; like a protective mother with lots ofkids. The kids in this case are all the bones, joints, muscles,etc.
The mother wants her kids to be successful. It really bothersher to see her kids suffer or doing anything that makes themstruggle. In other words, the brain is interested in the body'ssuccess.
Now most mothers (brains) have spies to help them. These areneighbors, kids in the neighborhood, teachers at school, etc.,that let mothers know if there are problems with the kids. Yousee, the brain does not like the body or its parts (the kids) toget into any difficulty.
These spies are called proprioceptors. They send information tothe brain to let it know such things as how fast a limb ismoving, how much tension a muscle is under, if a joint is undertoo much strain and where a body part is located in space. Thebrain reacts by making adjustments so the body is successful.
You see, by training the body in the correct way, the rightinformation gets to the brain. When you train the body the wrongway, the spies send bad information to the brain; this resultsin poor performance and fitness outcomes.
The brain will take in whatever information you feed it, good orbad. It loves you like only a good mother could. It will reactbased on the information it gets. The brain wants you to beefficient and have glorious results...but can only respond tothe information it receives.
The last tidbit of information about the brain and itsimportance to training is this; the brain recognizes musclesynergies (groups of muscles working together).
This brings me to my point about confusing the brain. If yousend it information about muscles working in isolation (bicepscurls, triceps press downs, sitting knee extensions), then thebrain responds with mixed signals. It wants to make the bodyefficient by having the muscles work in groups. Based on thefeedback it is getting though, it tries to make the body assuccessful as possible by helping the muscles work individually.This results in poor movement patterns and injury.
Based on this information, I realized my brain needed some help.I needed to stop feeding my brain artificial movementinformation. I needed to train my muscles and joints as a groupand do programs that allowed my body to move as it was designedto move.
Now I realize I just gave you a lot of neuroanatomy andphysiology in a few short paragraphs. However, with thatknowledge in tow, let me tell you the type of routine that willstimulate your brain!
There are four things you must do:
First, get on your feet. We constantly ask our bodies to performwhile squatting, walking and climbing stairs. Our muscles needto be ready to respond when executing these types of activities.If you train the body (and brain) while on your feet, it willrespond by making the body more efficient during those occasions.
Second, train movements, not muscles. As mentioned before, thebrain recognizes groups (synergies) of muscles, not individualmuscles. To make greater fitness gains, don't confuse yourbrain...train it correctly.
Third, work in multiple planes of motion. There are three planesof motion: sagittal (front and back like a forward lunge orwalking straight ahead), frontal (side-to-side like alateral/side lunge or arm motion during jumping jacks), andtransverse (rotation like a drop-step lunge or swinging a bat).All human movements have all three planes involved; however,there is usually one dominant plane. Training in three planeswill assist in training muscle synergies and will make yourbrain happy.
Fourth, get your hips into it! The hip musculature originatesand dissipates (controls) body forces; forces like gravity,ground reaction (forces coming up from the ground when taking astep), and external forces (weights, exercise bands, etc.)acting on the system. The hips are the crossroads for manyforces working on the body. Proper motion and strength in yourhips can help make other parts of your body perform better.
A few sample exercises that incorporate the above principles are:
* Three position lunges. Lunges to the front, side and drop step(stepping back at a 45 degree angle).
* Squat to overhead shoulder press with dumbbells.
* Squat to row - similar to the seated row, only in a standingposition. When arms are out, you are in a squat position, whenyou pull back to row, bring your hips forward and stand up.
I could talk for hours about the benefits of full-bodymulti-plane exercise routines. Hopefully you understand why itis so important to your movement success and ultimately yourfitness success.
Take home points from this article:
* Train on your feet, in three planes of motion. * Work throughyour hips to train your brain * Full body, synergistic routinessend the proper information to the brain about successfulmovement patterns.
Ultimately, this will improve:
* Movement * * Energy * Balance * Flexibility *Strength * And help eliminate joint pain and injury possibility.
Good luck, train your brain...your body will thank you.
About the author:Want to get get maximum results with your workout routine? Useyour butt to train your brain and achieve fitness goals. Easilyadaptable to your schedule. Visithttp://www.hiptobefit.com/intro
