Getting from good to great, and great to elite.
Approaches to substantial improvement in performance vary depending on who you ask. Most coaches will say it takes at least 10 years of repetitive practice, for an athlete to achieve world-class status. This is known as the 10,000 hour rule. This rule dictates that a predefined standard of 10,000 hours, or ten years, of practice must be performed before an athlete can reach an elite level in her sport. And this is true… Usually.
Given that all forms of practice aren’t equal, you might wonder if there are ways to short cut the 10,000 hour rule. Well, there are. Perfecting athletic movement patterns from the most basic elements will allow you to progress more quickly. Imagine yourself as a train – your moving parts are the cars. Every car must be aligned, running smoothly, well oiled, and otherwise functioning properly for the train to be fast and efficient. Any car that’s out of line, stuck, rusty, or disabled will effectively put the brakes on and potentially damage on the whole train. Z-Fit personal trainers teach you how to take the brakes off your body by making sure every movement works to its highest capacity to maximize your performance and speed past that ten year rule.
In Z-Fit, we break down all movements to their most basic elements. Rebounding a basketball, squatting 300 pounds, and sitting
down in a chair all require optimal hip function for optimal performance. Any deficiency in the movement of the hip will create what’s called compensation. For the basketball player, this means slower reaction times as the body has to adjust before it gets into the right position to jump. For the weightlifter, it means strength will be compromised because the proper lines of force cannot be achieved for the lift. And what about the person sitting in the chair? Every time he sits he reinforces an unhealthy movement pattern that results in joint stiffness and weakness, which can lead to back pain, immobility, and arthritis.
The human body is an awesome ensemble of muscle, bones, organs, and the connective tissue that holds it all together. What is truly amazing, and almost always overlooked in athletic training, is the governing system that makes it work: the human nervous system. The nervous system controls every aspect of the body and its movements, so by improving the function of the controlling nervous system, you improve the entirety of the body’s performance.
