Spring Qi Chats | Week 2
Vision + Validation
Ever wonder why an exercise can feel WRONG? This week’s discuss on vision training might help you see the truth as you learn which drill is right for you!
Not Every Drill is Right For You Right Now…
I won’t spend time convincing you about the significance of vision training as you age. Don’t get me wrong, it's undeniably important. In fact, visual training for adults over 60 often enhances balance and walking abilities, playing a crucial role in preventing falls. Doesn’t that motivate you to immediately dive into an hour of pencil push ups?
However, here’s the intriguing part: just because something is “good” for you doesn’t guarantee it will be beneficial. Jumping into new training might actually be less advantageous than you realize. This is so common. Most of us will engage in tasks without assessing our current capabilities first. It’s akin to getting in a car and driving across state lines without properly packing or filling the tank. Regardless of our intentions, if we’re unprepared, we may not get very far.
Why do we assess + reassess?
Let’s keep the neurology lesson simple.
As a general rule, your brain controls everything. It governs your movement, your pain, your strength & mobility; and yes, even your attitude comes from the brain. These are all outputs of your brain.
When we understand the brain as the body’s control system, we begin to see that change is going to have to come from the brain. This is called neuroplasticity.
Now here’s the fascinating part: your brain’s number one job is to keep you safe. To do this effectively, it requires immediate information and rapid decision-making to produce the necessary outputs for your protection. In fact, the nervous system communicates at 270mph. This rapid processing is so swift that we often overlook the actual processing that occurs between an input and its resulting reaction (output).
This is why it’s important to understand that change happens at the speed of the nervous system.
With every movement, exercise, breath, and stimulus, the brain is continuously evaluating whether the experience is beneficial, neutral, or threatening. Consequently, movement patterns and performance can shift almost instantaneously, depending on how the nervous system interprets the situation.
This understanding gives us an incredible opportunity and responsibility. So let’s go over how you can learn to assess and reassess your nervous system for vision training!
Neuro-Qi Tip o’the day!
Use your golden nuggets
You have to write down what works for you. This can be your saving grace when you injure yourself and need a positive input to the brain to ‘drain the bucket’.
Use your golden nuggets before any activity and when you’re injured.
Always know that your golden nuggets can change over time so continually look for positive re-assessments!
*Video posts every Friday by 11:30am MDT
Resources:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10002604/
