A Chapter from my upcoming book..."The Book On Movement"
Our Nervous System: The “Fuse Box”
“Our body is an electrical circuit. If we violate the rules of that electrical
circuit we will lose performance or get injured unfortunately, we can’t reset
our own fuse to fix it”
The human body and your
standard housing dwelling have a lot in common.
The biggest commonality is
the flow of electricity to make power.
The human body is an electrical circuit just like the one in your home
or apartment. Human movement is actually
is powered by electrical impulses from our brain and spinal cord.
At your home, electricity
enters the house from an electrical line and is routed directly to the circuit
breaker or “fuse box”. In the human
body, the electrical line “in” is our brain, which generates electrical
impulses. These impulses are sent down
the path of the spinal cord, or, our own human “fuse box”.
Just like in the house, the
fuse box branches off electrical lines to all the plugs in your home; the
spinal cord branches off and sends nerves that directly connect to all the
muscles of the body so that movement can occur.
So why is the so
important? Is actually VITAL that you
understand this basic principal of how we move.
Just like electricity that
comes into the fuse box and then out to the plugs, we MUST move in the same
equation or sequence. We must move from the
“fuse box” the spine out to the rest of the body, our “plugs”.
Meaning any and all movement
must start at the core or spine and follow a PRECISE sequential path out to the
extremities or “plugs” just like electricity flows in your home. Period, No
exceptions!
This is how we are designed
to move. Any deviation from this
sequence will result in injury and a loss of physical performance.
Let’s look at the common row
off of a Nautilus type of machine at your neighborhood gym.
You sit on the machine, grip
the bar, put your chest up agains the pad…. and then…. you pull from your hands
first. Oops! You just blew a fuse!
Why? You violated your body’s proximal to distal
rule or fuse box to plug, or spine to arm or leg.
You moved from the hand
first. This is the furthest “plug” away
from the fuse box or spine.
We MUST move proximal (core,
fuse box) to distal (extremity, plug) because that is the path of electrical impulses
of the body. BrainèSpinal Cord èExtremities.
Why is this true? Not only is it true, it’s the law of
neurological development.
When your baby momma came
home with the news that she was having you, she had an ultrasound picture of
you which showed what? A very tiny head
and curled up spinal cord. Did you see
arms and legs equal to the development of the head and spinal cord? No, because they (extremities) develop later on
in a precise neurological sequence of human development.
If we violate this
development, by moving in the wrong or almost backwards sequence, its not if,
but when, you will get hurt.
Back to that row, now lets
insert the proper neurological sequence.
Sit, grip the bar, chest
against pad…move proximal (closet to
the spine) to distal.
1.
Simply start the
motion with the muscles closest to the spine and move in sequence out to the
hands.
2.
Depress and
squeeze your shoulder blades down and in towards your spine. Almost like putting your shoulder blades into
opposite back pockets of your favorite jeans.
3.
Allow the
shoulder to follow, then the elbow and lastly the hand ending in the exact same
position as the first row.
Now you have moved in perfect
neurological sequence promoting healthy movements rather than unhealthy
movements.
Once you are aware of this
proper sequence, you will soon see that you violate it with most every action
you do. This is one of the main reasons that
you are injured and losing performance.
The good news is as you
continue to read on, you will become more award of how and why you are supposed
to move and have the solution to fix or improve your motion so that you stay
healthy.
