Hi Z-Health Community. Dr. Cobb back with you.
You know what? Last week, we celebrated our 80th blog episode. We started this whole thing on January 2013, so this is number 81. I don’t know why that makes me happy but I like numbers. This is our 81st blog going into 2015.
I have about 2,000 more episodes planned so just stick with me because we a have a lot to do. There’s a lot about the body I want you to know.
What I want you to know going into the new year is just how your brain works. I’m going to keep this super simple but you might want to write this down. Here’s how it works. Your nervous system exists to take in information from your world, to decide what to do about it and then make you act, all right?
Now, this is really really; that sounds simple but it’s super important to understand. A tremendous amount of your brain space and your body design is oriented toward helping you understand your environment through what you feel and what you sense. That’s called sensory information. If I reach out and touch a hot stove, I need to know that information. If I’m petting my dog, I need to know that information.
I have specific receptors throughout my body that tell me what I’m touching, what I’m feeling, what I’m experiencing. I heard a great quote the other day talking about your eyes because your eyes are also part of your sensory. The quote was: “Your eyes are your brain’s way of touching the world.” I thought that was a very cool idea.
It was said by someone who actually understands this idea that your brain and nervous system, number one job, taking in information. Number two job, deciding what to do with that information. Number three job, moving on that information.
In the health and fitness world, everyone focuses on the movement part, not the deciding part and particularly not the sensation part. What we’ve learned over time is that if you have poor sensation in your body, if you’re not good at taking in sensory information, it compromises decisions and it compromises movement.
One of the things that we do whenever we’re evaluating people is we test their sensation and in standard neurologic testing, you see people using tuning forks and saying, hey close your eyes, can you find your nose with your finger, and things like that. Those are only useful for us from a figuring out what’s wrong with your perspective but much more importantly, if you are generally healthy, it still is an awesome way to warm up to make sure that you’re focusing on your sensation.
We have a new DVD program that’s coming out, it’s called the Strength Gym. In that one, we’re doing lots of mobility work but using bands to make ourselves stronger as we are also improving our movement. A large part of that is actually working on sensation in your warm-up. I shot a very unique sensory warm-up exercise process to go along with the exercises, and what we’re going to do, as a gift to you going into 2015, is we’re going to give you that warm-up.
What we’re going to do is we’re going to warm up your face and then your skull and then your neck and then your arms and your legs and your trunk and your body. The whole idea here is not about making yourself tight or strong or anything. It’s simply saying, hey brain, wake up. Can you feel things? Because if you can’t feel things, I promise you it actually makes you weaker. It makes you less mobile.
Going into 2015, we’re going to focus on the three pillars of performance in Z-Health: Seeing well, moving well, and balancing well, and a large part of that moving well, guys, is being able to feel well.
Here’s to feeling better in 2015 because ultimately it’s going to make you move better.
Have a fantastic new year.
Look forward to talking to you soon.
Thanks.
Bonus Videos:
Health and Fitness Professional’s Sensory Before Motor Educational Bonus Video
Better Movement for a Better Brain
