Key Z Health R Phase Review Concept #3: Why focus on the nervous system?
September 15th, 2009
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by Mike T Nelson · Filed Under: Mobility · athletic performance · neurology · neuroplasticity
Why does Z Health focus on the nervous system?
3 main reasons:
1) governing system of the body
2) fastest system in the body
3) most stable/ most plastic system in the body
Everything in your body is run by you nervous system and it is the governing system in the body. EVERYTHING is under its control, and this includes the muscles and the mobility of your joints! If you can optimize the nervous system, you can optimize performance.
FAST
The nervous system is also incredibly fast. Nerve impulses can travel at speeds up to 300 mph! (Editors note: based on a comment I have added a list of references for nerve conduction speeds HERE). It has the ability to adapt to change in milliseconds. Dr. Cobb has always said “you should be able to change your body at the speed of the nervous system” and that is fast. No need to wait to see if those planks, stick up and external shoulder rotation work is helping you 4-6 weeks later. You can evaluate any change in seconds! That change can joint mobility exercises, strength training, any movement!
Stable and plastic
Initially this seems like a contradiction. The nervous system is very stable, yet has the ability to change and adapt. If you go back even 10 to 15 years ago, it was commonly thought the amount of neurons (nerve/brain cells) you had as an adult was fixed. If you lost some, too bad, none were going to regenerate and replace them; sorry, you’re screwed. We now know that this is not true at all and the body has an ability to create new nerve cell (brain neurogenesis) and to also rewire all these nerve cells (brain neuroplasticity).
Stroke patients that had lost function of say their left arm through months of therapy could learn to use the once “damaged” arm to full function again via the concept of neuroplasticity. How? With specific training, they were able to get their brain to rewire so a different part learned to take over the function (motor control) of the arm.
If the brain can do this, I think we can teach it (and you!) how to perform at a higher level, lift more, jump higher, and become a better athlete.
Rock on
Comments RSS 
350mph. Compare that to electricity in a wire: You could send information about 3 million times faster (in copper about 96% of speed of light).
When you land after a jump the shock wave through your body has reached your head before your feet sent to your brain “Hey, we have contact”. I don’t think you can use this for anything, but it’s still somehow interesting.
Something different that might have to do with how the brain adapts:
When I play guitar and practice something new, I play the same thing over and over again (well that’s called practice, right) and it normally gets a little bit better with each time I try it. Then the next time I practice it again I start about where I stopped last time. But sometimes something strange happens: I practice something hard, play it over and over but make only very slow progress. Than I take some days off, don’t practice it at all and when I come back my abilities almost magically improved. Even the first attempt is a lot better than anything I did in my last practice and it gets better very fast. And I’m not the only one that reports these delayed effects.
Thanks for the comment Helium! Much appreciated!
You are correct that nerve impulses compared to other electrical signals are slow, but in comparison to human physiology they are quite fast. I would still consider 200-300mph as fast.
I added some references above with the varying speeds.
Thanks for the info on motor learning. I’ve experienced the same thing. There seems to be a slight delay in the brain to process it, and some evidence shows that sleep helps this process.
Rock on
Mike T Nelson
Think of how different coaching would be if only they were as knowledgable as this.
Yep, there is always room for improvement.
thanks John
Rock on
Mike N
Probably the only beings who utilize the nervous system affectly are shoalin monks. They can break bricks, snap a steel pipe to pieces by breaking it with their heads. Of course, the nervous system is very not appreciated for not many coaches look into the nervous system as the main source of training for the twitch fibers.
Jump Higher
Thanks for the kind words—agreed that the nervous system is important
Rock on
Mike N
Hey Mike T. I agree, the nervous system is very underlooked. I cannot recall how many times, high school coaches will turn blank when I ask them the nervous system and how it has to do with training.
I myself has studied a quite a bit on the nervous system because I was a track sprinter and studied a little on biomechs and such
Jump Higher,
I would agree the nervous system is important as is biomechanics!
Keep in touch
rock on
Mike N