Happy Monday!
I am up bright and early to go see Brad "No Relation" Nelson at Kinetic Edge to work on some of my sports specific motions as I am prepping for the live portion of the Z Health Master Trainer program that will be held in CA in early January. I started the program this past March and each month with have a set of assignments and conference calls. It will be good to have some review my sprint techniques and other S Phase movements.
Acupuncture and Pain Thoughts
I asked a student who is almost done studying TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) about his thoughts on my acupuncture post (click HERE for it) and here is what he had to say
Thanks for the thought...I don't even want to touch it in a way....it is such a huge discussion where do you begin. Acupuncture moves qi and blood. To say anything else--it is like where do you start? It is like yes it works for many things but in TCM you can't disregard the herbal aspect since the combination therapy is usually always better....so difficult to discuss...it is like doing a study on whether iron dumbbells are better than plastic bells. Placebo yes to extent...bedside manner....time with the patient/perceived care...how much stimulation with each point...what pattern or condition is the patient in...you are getting stuck with a needle so regardless there is going to be a response from the body neuro/chem/physiologic... I just like to tell people that I think I can help them...and let the individual be the judge if acupuncture "works"
It is like the more you know and see the less you feel you know...(that is where I am at with the medicine---but that is what make it cool.)
Take care,
mase
Reflexive Lifting
One thing I have been playing around with more in training lately are eye movements.
The eyes have an effect on reflexes and can be used to improve your lifts. Sounds insane I know.
Here is a great article by Dr. Cobb that outlines it below:
Reflexive Lifting: How To Make Your Neural Reflexes Work With You And Not Against You!
Play around with it and let me know what you find.
I am sure most of us remember the Olympics and watching Lo lo hit the last hurdle as she looked UP at the monitor and took her eyes off the hurdle in front of her (see the video below at 1:46 and notice her head position vs the other athletes).
A simple one to try is on a bench press to watch the bar as you lower it to your chest and then move your eyes back up to the position that you want the bar to be at once you are done (e.g lockout). Moving the eyes up tends to facilitate extension (as in tricep extension).
If you are interested in these concepts, they are covered in the Z Health I Phase Cert.
My training log is pretty updated for those that are interested. Check out the link below
Mike T Nelson Training Blogspot.
Nothing huge for weights yet, but just working back into it after a nice trip to S Padre; so I will be all good to go this week. For those new to it, my main overarching priority is movement quality so if a lift degrades my movement, I don't do it.
Enjoy!
