The human body is something very extraordinary. So much in fact that we ourselves are unaware of how strong and capable our bodies are until called into action by extraordinary circumstances. The adrenaline starts pumping and all of the sudden, you feel like you running twice as fast and lifting twice as much. A lot of coaches and trainers make the statement that physical fitness is half mental. And it's not just the mind set that they're talking about, but also literally, the mind has to train and push the body.

The mind is limited by our experience which determine our preconceived notions about our own capacity to work. And when we train, our mind (based on our size, motivation, energy levels, and other known physical factors) sets a mental bar of where we are going to be at for our training. It's logical if you think about it. If you've never ran a 5 minute mile, how does your body or mind know you are able? And this is one of the key components of training that needs to be addressed in order to promote constant progression towards your goals.

Nueromuscular training is a fantastic way to teach the body it's capable of more. Nueromuscular training is performed in a way to trick the body that it can push more and do more than previously known. A classic example of this is for sprinters. They need to be able to fire their muscles at an extremely high rate in order to produce enough force and fly for 100 to 400m. When a sprinter has reached their personal peak. Coaches will often employ Downhill sprints, assisted sprints, and drop off sprints. All these employ some sort of assistance to enhance the bodies capability to run a little faster than their personal best. In the case of downhill sprints, gravity pulls the runner down the hill faster than he himself is able to run, the legs due to the extra help find an extra gear and perform at a higher rate than before and all of the sudden, the nueromuscular connections communicate the feeling and after some time and physical adaptation, the runner is able to naturally realize their capacity to run faster.



Nueromuscular training can be done is a variety of ways. This week I've been working on lowering my mile time over 10 miles. So I've set out a mile long course and have been running Mile repeats well below my race pace pushing my lungs and legs to their capacity and doing 10 repeats. My body understands that I had run 10 miles and that I have maintained a faster pace than before, and now I am lowering my 10 mile time. Now that my mind has felt my body perform at the desired pace, it can alter the predetermined limitations allowing my performance to increase.

You can also do this with weight training by performing "negative" repetitions. Overloading the weight and only doing the recovery side; the downward of the bench press, squat and deadlift as well as other exercises.

Add some nueromuscular training to your regimen. Don't spend too much time focusing on this type of training as the benefits to not increase directly with the amount of time performing. Rather, it is something that should be worked on once, maybe twice a week on a rest day or recovery day. Nueromuscular training is an additive to your training schedule. Enjoy the grind!

Every Day... A Little Stronger