NeuroCentric Training
Three basic steps are required for the nervous system to create movement and to control posture. Within this process, the peripheral and central nervous system must:
- Receive INPUT signals from your sensory system
- INTERPRET the incoming signals and make a DECISION about what to do
- Create a motor OUTPUT
This means that every movement we make is the sum total of:
- Incoming signal quality and quantity
- The brain’s ability to accurately understand and interpret inputs
- Outgoing motor control quality and movement capacity
Because each of these factors is equally important in how we feel, move, and perform, we must learn to assess and train each component of this neural loop to be able to perform at the highest level.
Everything we do is driven by the intricate communication between the brain and the body. In fact, every health and fitness professional is always practicing neurology—either accidently or intentionally. At Athletic Strategies, we do it intentionally!
We apply practical neuroscience and biomechanics in order to quickly and dramatically improve our client’s results. This is achieved by implementing a seamlessly integrated training system that combines all the newest research from fields including:
Sports Vision Training
“Vision is a dynamic interactive process of motor and sensory function, mediated by the eyes for the purpose of simultaneous organization of posture, movement and spatial orientation, for manipulation of the environment and, to its highest degree, of perception and thought.” Dr. William Padula
Visual information is by far the most dominant of our sensory systems. It is estimated that 70-90% of the sensory input received by an athlete arrives via the visual system.
Each eye has approximately 1,000,000 axons (nerve fibers) that make up the optic nerve. In comparison, the corticospinal tract, which is responsible for roughly 90% of the brain’s output to control voluntary movement, contains roughly 1,000,000 nerve fibers. This gives an idea of the vast importance of the visual system on human function.
Our visual system is not just about acuity and how well we see but also:
Accommodation
This is the process that allows the lens of the eye to change shape in order to alter the optical power of the eye so that it can maintain clear focus on objects at different distances.
Smooth Pursuits
These are eye movements that are required when tracking a moving object through an environment.
Binocular Vision
This is the ability of both eyes to maintain bi-foveal fixation on a single object. If this ability is impaired, athletes will suffer from visual suppression without even being aware of it.
Stereopsis
This refers to the ability to see an object three-dimensionally and to perceive depth.
Vestibular Rehabilitation
Our vestibular system is part of the inner ear and is a major contributor to the sense of balance, spatial orientation, and information about body position allowing for rapid compensatory movements. The vestibular system is also intricately connected with our visual system and helps not just to control balance but to control eye movements as well.
Vestibular rehabilitation means that we assess the function of each part to identify any imbalance or dysfunction and then design a tailor-made exercise-based treatment program of vestibular adaptation and substitution in order to restore it to a high level of functioning.
MODERN STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING TRAINING
When we begin training our athletes from a brain-based perspective, strength and conditioning and suppleness training can be viewed in a new light. Rather than focusing on the biomechanical process and results only, we can retrain our thinking into understanding that every exercise is a form of brain stimulus. And, with this in mind, we can use strength and suppleness training to reduce threat or increase threat based on what an athlete needs.
Athletic Strategies seeks a maximum return and efficiency on your input in a short period of time with the least amount of stress on your joints through a structured and brain-based approach to training. This involves a wide range of exercises to build a variety of skills, with a focus on mind, mobility, stability, strength, endurance, power, speed, agility, and performance.
Agility, Speed, and Power
Speed is the ability to move the body in one direction as fast as possible. Maximum linear speed plays a role in only a few sports—mostly track and field events. In other words, most athletes do not need a perfect sprint technique, but rather a sport-specific sprint technique.
Agility is the ability to accelerate, decelerate, stabilize, and quickly change directions with proper posture. Acceleration, however, is essential in almost every dynamic, reactive sport. Quickness is the ability to react and change body position with a maximum rate of force production.
Power is the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movements. The two components of power are strength and speed.
Putting your nervous system in the center will enable us to learn which component gives you maximum results and leads you most efficiently to your goal.
Tissue Work
Soft tissue management refers to the tissues that connect, support, or surround other structures and organs of the body, not being bone. Soft tissue includes tendons, ligaments, fascia, fibrous tissues, fat, and synovial membranes and muscles, nerves and blood vessels. Interestingly, it is thought that the soft tissues of the human body are responsible for more pain, dysfunction, and disability than all the other organs, yet they are often neglected in evaluation and treatment.
At Athletic Strategies, we use a variety of hands-on soft tissue techniques (including deep-tissue release, Active Release Technique—ART—and various Thai massage methods) to release areas of congestion, tightness, and scaring. Which technique to apply at a given time is individual and determined by your own nervous system.
Flexibility means the ability to successfully move your body in and out of multiple directions of movement. This signifies that the joints, muscles, tendons, fascia, and connective tissue must allow for freedom of movement in three dimensions. If you become restricted in any one area, then another area will compensate, often leading to overuse and injury. The focus of Athletic Strategies is to return the soft tissues to their healthy texture, tension, and length in order for them to function optimally and pain-free.
Most injuries require attention to the soft tissues, the degree of which must be evaluated by the practitioner. But whether you are seeking better health or greater performance, the impressive results of our soft tissue manipulation will allow you to reach your highest goals!