Our bodies are wonderful machines. They have the capacity to silently fight off disease, overcome physical handicaps, and propel us across land and through water. Of all the parts of our bodies, the most mysterious and powerful is, hands down, our brains.

My clients spend a lot of time working on the basics... learning the exercise movement patterns before even adding a real weight. We do this so that our brain can learn the movement so that when we DO add a load to the exercise our brain already KNOWS which muscles to fire.

Training the brain means learning exercises in progressive steps. How do you think a new client would feel if I asked them on their first day to do an overhead squat while standing on a Swiss ball? If they survived the request they probably wouldn't feel too good. More than likely they would end up taking a serious tumble, breaking some vital part, and requesting a new trainer (best case).

Rather than jumping on the ball two feet first, we would first learn how to sit on the ball with two feet on the floor. Then we'd learn how to lift one foot; than two feet. After a while (perhaps weeks) we might attempt to kneel on the ball when the ball is being stabilized by the trainer. Then kneel without trainer stabilization. There are many other intermediary steps yet to go before the client is ready to perform an overhead squat on the ball, but I think you're getting the picture.

While standing on a ball does require some muscle strength, it really is more about muscle CONTROL. It is the CONTROL portion of the exercise that our brain is LEARNING during each of the progressive steps. By the time we are actually READY to attempt to stand on the ball the previous training milestones, such as kneeling on the ball, will be EASY.

A friend sent me this the other day. It is a fantastic illustration of the tacit power and complexity of our brain. I hpoe you eonjy...

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid! Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorant.

When an exerciser first starts her strength training program she will notice a significant improvement in strength within the first two to three weeks.  It turns out that the majority of this strength gains has little to do with an increase in contractual strength of the muscle as the ability's to fire the muscle.  Again, it all comes down to control.  Studies suggest that beginning exercisers are only able to recruit 45-50 percent of their muscular capacity while elite athletes are able to recruit 85-90 percent of their total capacity.  What happened to the last 10-15 percent?  Ask the lady that lifted the auto off her son...  The last 10 percent is reserved for the adrenals.

For more information email dave@deskjockeyfitness.com.