Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #7

The concepts covered in Z Health continue on and make sure to see a few of the previous ones below if you missed them.

• Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #6: Optimal Motor Learning

• Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #5: All the Body All the Time

• Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #4: The 3 Rs of R Phase Why is it called R-Phase?

• Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #3: Why focus on the nervous system?

• Z Health Athletic Performance System Review: Concept #2 The SAID Principle

Sensory motor amnesia (SMA)

This term was first coined by Dr. Thomas Hanna and describes a process where you have lost sensation of certain parts of your body! Sounds crazy, but if you can not feel it, do you think you will have a loss of performance? You betcha (see, I am from Minnesota and I am having hot dish for dinner with a lutefisk chaser; I know you are jealous).

Startle Reflex

This is a hard wired reflex in everyone. You can learn to modify it, but it impossible to extinguish it completely. The body is survival based, not performance based. Personally, I think this sucks, but I can’t change it.

To get a performance increase, you need to teach the body how to survive better.

Increased survival potential is a way to “back door” performance increase. By learning to watch for startle, you can gage your performance. In general, if you are going into startle you will need to drop the load on your lift. Now you may be able to lift it, but long term you are not doing yourself any favors by constantly going into startle every time.

Andy Bolton deadlifts1008 lbs for a new world record

Watch Benedikt Magnusson do a 1100 Pound Deadlift

Watch Benedikt Magnusson’s training for the deadlift.

Is he making it look hard?

I LOVE watching those video!!

What did you see?

Even though it is a world record for Andy Bolton and the other lifts are nuts, there is minimal startle.  Bolton’s face is still relatively calm. He makes it LOOK easy. That is your goal. Make it LOOK easy. All the greats do that, from Wayne Gretzky, to Michael Jordan, to Tiger Woods to Barry Sanders.

Any comments, post away at the bottom!

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

Here is an article for more information on the concepts above that I wrote for XL Athlete

XL Athlete Dysfunctional Exercise Cues By Mike T Nelson

Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #6:
Optimal Motor Learning

While there are many different theories on motor learning (how do you learn to do a new task such as a deadlift, catch a ball, fly at kite, etc), it can be split up roughly into 3 stages based on the number of reps

The 3 Stages are

1 )Cognitive (1-1,000 reps)

2) Associative (1,000 to 100,000 reps)

3) Autonomous (100,0000 to 300,000 reps)

(editor’s note, I updated the reps on autonous after more research and talking with Dr. Cobb, the numbers are very hard to nail down exactly in research and are our best guess)

When you first learn a brand new task you are in the cognitive stage since you have to think very hard about it.

After about 1,000 reps you are starting to get a handle on the movement, but it still requires some thought.

After about 100,000 reps, you are getting into the autonomous stage (think automatic) where you have very little to none conscious thought.

For Tiger Woods to hit a golf ball is in the autonomous realm.  Walking is an autonomous motion for everyone other than very young kids. You are a professional walker and you don’t have to think “ok, here I go, right foot in front, point the foot……” You just walk without much thought!

The goal initially is to get to the autonomous stage based on GOOD patterns.

“When you practice something ‘wrong’ you get really really good at the ‘wrong’ thing.

The longer you practice failure, the harder it becomes to recognize success.

Be careful what you practice, you may get really good at the wrong thing!”

–Tony Blauer

(Thanks to Frankie for sending that one to me)

Summary

Make sure you are doing perfect practice and get your reps in (practice).

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

Tiger Fans!

Photo by aka-nolimit “Volleyball Defense”

All the Body All the Time

It is Monday and we are back again with the Monday Mobility corner.

The behind the curtain of the Z Health Athletic Performance System rolls on.

If you missed any of the previous concepts, check them out below

• Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #4: The 3 Rs of R Phase Why is it called R-Phase?

• Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #3: Why focus on the nervous system?

• Z Health Athletic Performance System Review: Concept #2 The SAID Principle

Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #5:  “All the body all the time”

This is one of Dr. Cobb’s favorite quotes. The body is all connected via the nervous system, so you MUST take this into account. Less than optimal joint mobility in ANY joint will result in a less than optimal performance. This is the reason for joint mobility work for every joint in the Z-Health R Phase manual.

Think of it as having any one of your car tires go flat.  Your performance will be less than optimal, so you need to get mobility in all of the joints.

See the posts below for more details

Z Health Case Study: Car Accident and Basketball Performance

Z Health Feedback and Jaw Mobility?

Z Health Joint Mobility and Olympic Marathon Running

Rock on

Mike T Nelson