Reactivity: What It Is and How to Get It - III: Having already given a basic rundown of the topic and discussed the physical side of reactivity in some detail, it's now time to look at the neural side of the equation. Though strictly speaking, even the neurological aspects of athleticism are 'physical', the way in which adaptations take place is far different in that neural learning is immediate while physical adaptation takes time. In this installment, we'll be going over two primary areas: the myotatic stretch reflex, and correct muscle recruitment patterns. To start, let's get to the stretch reflex. When a muscle body is stretched via outside forces (which in the case of an athlete is every time their foot strikes the ground), small sensory nerve cells inside of the muscles known as muscle spindles are stretched. This stretching causes a reflex contraction of the muscle group in question which seeks to return the muscle to its original length (Brooks, Fahey & White, 1996). The faster the rate of stretch, the stronger the ensuing stretch reflex will be (Siff, 2003). Nearly every single sporting movement relies heavily on this process, and if it's not working optimally, force output will suffer. But what can cause the operation to suffer? Countering the muscle spindles are another set of sensory nerves called golgi tendon organs. If stretch tension is excessive, a counter reflex initiated by the present golgi tendon organs will inhibit local muscular contraction, essentially canceling out the benefit of the myotatic stretch reflex and destroying the force necessary to successfully perform the sporting movement in order to try and ward off injury (Brooks, Fahey & White, 1996). Fortunately, proper training can both boost the effectiveness of one's myotatic stretch reflex and can inhibit the inhibition caused by the GTO. In fact, the same type of training accomplishes both goals simultaneously. This is where the popular method of plyometrics comes into play. By exposing the system to higher and higher amounts of force under high speed conditions and forcing the system to generate a reactive response, the myotatic stretch reflex can be primed and one can learn to control it, while the inhibition response of the GTO will itself be inhibited. Here is where movements such as bounds, approach jumps, depth jumps, and depth drops can be used. Getting more specific, higher intensity movements like depth drops and weighted reactive movements are better suited to GTO inhibition, but movements where one goes through the entire stretch shortening cycle at higher speeds, like depth jumps, bounds, etcetera, are better for priming the myotatic stretch and learning to control it. For those just getting into this type of training, it's better to start with depth drops into a general athletic position. The drop height should start off slightly lower than their standing vertical leap and should be built slowly as ability allows. Once one can drop safely and easily from around 120% of their standing vertical leap height, they should be able to progress into low depth jumps, bounds, and approach jumps. Those choosing to try weighted reactive movements should start light with low reps (3-5) and only progress in weight if bar speed doesn't suffer. As one increases their drop heights, rebound heights, and general approach jumping heights it will demonstrate demonstrate decreased GTO inhibition as well as better control of the myotatic stretch reflex, as better athletes exhibit more precise control over reflex-initiated muscle tension (Siff, 2003). It's also important to remember here that all kinds of shock training are not only hard on the joints, but cause significant CNS fatigue as well. Both the intensity and the volume need to be increased slowly for this type of training otherwise overtraining and/or injury could occur. Outside of the myotatic stretch reflex, displaying optimal reactivity requires that the correct muscles be firing at the correct times. Spurious muscle tension in an antagonistic muscle group can lessen actual force put into the ground, decrease the efficiency of the movement and cause an earlier onset of fatigue, and can cause poor mechanics further exacerbating the aforementioned two problems. Similarly, a lack of firing or a mistimed firing in a primary or supporting muscle group can wreck one's ability to display reactivity just as quickly. If the right muscles aren't firing, just as before, then force levels will be stifled, bad form will manifest itself, and a drop in efficiency will occur. This facet of training actually requires a book to properly explain in full, but we'll just go over some of the most common problems. On the topic of correct muscle activation, one of the biggest problems athletes face is improper stabilization the pelvis, mostly because of what could be termed 'lazy abs'. Because of trends in the S&C industry, most athletes train their p-chain much harder than they train the front of their body. This leads to abs that aren't strong enough to stabilize the forces created around the hips. Athletes are also constantly told to arch their backs while lifting, but this can create an improper relationship between length and tension in the abs or can result in little ab tension at all when performing movements. While it wouldn't seem so, having someone constantly arch their back in the weight room will lead to them constantly arching their back out on the playing field, and this will affect sporting ability. The fix here is relatively simple. To avoid having abs too weak to stabilize the pelvis against the forces generated around it all one needs to do is train their abs the same way they'd train their glutes and hamstrings. By this, I mean to do heavy weighted ab work instead of just high rep sets of crunches where you're going for the burn. Decline sit ups, ab rollouts, levers on a chin up bar, basically any high load abdominal movements can be used. To avoid developing or fix having lazy or elongated abs, one needs to concentrate on performing all of their weight lifting movements with a neutral pelvic position. Over time, the pattern will become ingrained and acting with a neutral pelvis, as opposed to an anteriorly rotated one, will become second nature. Another common activation problem is glutes which don't fire appropriately. This can be fixed through activation drills like glute bridging (on one or two legs), or through using lifts like good mornings, lunges, single leg deadlifts, or split squats in one's training. These movements will force activation of the glutes and in time the pattern will become ingrained. As above, it's important to focus on maintaining a neutral pelvic position during these lifts to avoid problems with the abs. Also, and this deals with no problem in particular, it's very important that one gets plenty of practice doing their actual sporting movement. As sporting proficiency increases, the movements become more practiced and energy expenditure drops (Siff, 2003). Less energy expenditure means that there is less tension in antagonistic muscle groups and therefore one will be able to perform better for longer without fatiguing. For athletes of lesser preparation, more volume may be needed to help teach motor patterns and in this case the intensity of the sporting movement can be lowered. For more advanced athletes, practicing at lower intensities will not help and volume will need to be sacrificed to make room for higher intensities. Full rest between sets is advisable, as sport practice is usually quality over quantity. And finally, in order to limit spurious muscle tension which can lower both proficiency and efficiency, athletes need to learn to relax. In fact, just like superior athletes demonstrate the ability to generate tension more quickly, they can also dissipate tension at a faster rate than lower athletes (Siff, 2003). As with everything else mentioned so far, this ability is trainable through a number of means. The most effective way to build the ability to quickly relax the muscles is through rapid loading followed immediately by rapid unloading (Siff, 2003). This would include the shock method, bounds, RFIs, Olympic lifts, medball or kettlebell throws, or any other similar actions. Though there is no research on the topic, it would stand to reason that cyclical activities would be best for teaching relaxation, as they will typically be less stressful, have shorter ground contacts, and allow for a higher volume of work. Other methods that can be used to increase the ability to release muscular tension are PNF, mediation, visualization training, and the general intent on moving as smoothly and easily as possible. So, having already wrapped up an overview of the physical properties needed for reactivity, and having just concluded with the neural properties, one should now have a good idea of what they're dealing with. By focusing on maximizing one's reactive potential with the lessons outlined in this series, they can take their sporting performances to the highest levels possible and they can do it smoothly, powerfully, and with seeming ease. This isn't the whole picture though, and is in fact only a single small part. Keep reading, studying, and striving to make yourself the best you can. It'll pay off in the end. -Revolution References: Siff MC (2003) Supertraining Supertraining Institute Brooks GA, Fahey TD, White TP (1996) Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and Its Applications Mayfield