NEW Classes and Newsletter

How do you know if a certain intervention, like exercise, is having a positive effect on the body. There needs to be some kind of assessment. This is a fundamental principle in the Z-Health Brain and Neurologic based training system. For each drill, exercise, and intervention there is an assessment and re-assessment performed before and after to check the impact that the intervention had on the nervous system. So there is an assessing in real time rather than having to wait weeks and/or months to know.

Besides evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention, assessments can help to detect deficiencies or imbalances in the body before they become a limiting issue. Basically everything you do can then become an assessment as long as you are paying close enough attention to notice minor discomforts and irritations, differences between the right and left sides, and imbalances in strength and flexibility.

I will be offering a series of classes where we will be doing specific assessments for various aspects of the nervous system with the intention of picking up deficiencies that can be addressed before they become a major issue. (See "classes")

There are a number of simple self evaluations one can perform before and after any exercise or drill to assess their effect on the nervous system. Range of motion is one. This could be lifting the arm overhead, rotation of the neck or torso, or a forward bend to name a few. Critical for the assessment though is to make it as standardized as possible so as not to bring other areas of the body into the motion (e.g, bending the arm or arching the back when reaching overhead; or, bending the knees in a forward bend). Other possible assessments are checking your balance in a somewhat challenging stance (e.g., single leg), the ease/difficulty in performing a strength exercise, peripheral vision, etc.

Each exercise or drill can then be assigned into one of three categories based on the results of the assessments: Performance (improved re-assessment), Rehabilitation (poorer re-assessment = threat producing) or Neutral. Performance drills can then be done to enhance the nervous system. Rehab drills need to be slowed down or made smaller or done in a more supportive position to decrease the threat to make them at least neutral. These Rehab drills can then be progressed to improve the body's capacity so that the drills are not perceived by the nervous system as a threat. Performance drills can also be done just before the Rehab drills to enhance the nervous system and speed up the progress of the rehab drills.

So if you want the best results from your exercises, drills, and other interventions for improving your health, performance, and well-being make sure you are assessing whether those activities are perceived by the nervous system as a threat or a boost. Rehab those that are threatening and use the nervous system boosters to enhance results.