What if elevating sympathetics could actually help with pain and stress?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, all about the much-maligned sympathetic system.  I discuss the neurology and anatomy of the sympathetic system and explain how it works in tandem with other systems to achieve the correct balance needed for movement, strength-training, and more.  I outline cases where this balance isn't being met, and how raising sympathetics, even when it may seem counter-intuitive, might be the solution to problems with pain, decreased mobility, and anxiety.  I go over signs that the sympathetic system might be under-performing, and give you drills and assessments to activate the sympathetic system in a targeted way to improve outcomes without raising threat and causing more issues.  I also discuss the idea of intentionally raising sympathetics to actually provoke a parasympathetic response later.  This episode includes discussion of vision drills, breathing techniques, using light and sound, circadian rhythms, cold temperature, acupuncture tools, vigorous workouts, stretching and more.  

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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What if training "fast" isn't actually the best way to improve reaction time for athletes?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, all about improving reaction speed to improve athletic performance.  I discuss the neurology of reaction speed and how decisions are often made after first taking in visual information and understanding it.  This is why improving the speed of visual recognition is actually the game-changer many coaches and athletes are missing from their training.  I outline 4 main categories of vision, how to assess and train each of them, and how to make our training specific for each athlete based on their own neurology.  I also talk about depth perception, peripheral vision, contrast sensitivity, sympathetic tone, stacking cognitive skills, perturbation, and more.  This is one of our longer episodes filled with actionable assessments, drills, and gems that you can put into your practice immediately to train your reaction speed and improve your athletic performance. 

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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If you had a sense that could tell you how your body was functioning, would you use it?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, all about interoception and the important role it plays in the nervous system.  I begin with a story about a client that was essentially blind to the internal functions and sensations of her own body and the challenges she faced in both training and day-to-day life.  I go on to define interoception, the relevant anatomy of the brain and body, its connection to both emotion and physical sensation, and more.  I discuss the importance of autonomic function to healthy movement and performance, drills you can use to upregulate and downregulate interoception, and how to assess those drills to make sure you are moving in the right direction for your specific goals.  I also discuss various techniques and modalities, like breathing, tongue exercises, meditation, insular belts, and more.  Throughout the episode, I tie these concepts and drills back to my client, so I can provide context and show how these concepts are applied in the real world, and to underscore just how life-changing improving someone's sense of interoception can be.  

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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What do applied neurology professionals do when they injure their back?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, about Alisha's recent back injury and the tools we used immediately to start to fix her pain and get her back to training.  I talk about how she got injured while we were moving, and then go step by step and detail what we did on day one and then throughout the first week to help get her back on track.  I discuss how we used the assessment process, combined with some clues from her training history, to find her high-payoff drills, and how we stacked them and drilled them repeatedly until we were able to majorly improve her mobility, relieve her pain, and get her back to her normal self.  I also discuss some of the dead-ends we embarked upon that sounded good in theory, but didn't pass the assessment process.  This is a case-study in applied neurology, and covers a plethora of concepts, including threat assessment, stacking, closed chain vs open-chain positions, the table dilemma, inhibition tools, isometrics, audio stimulation, tractioning and more.  I also talk about my balance-board, and whether or not I consider it valuable as a tool for vestibular training.

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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What if you could decrease your pain by covering one eye? In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, about inhibition tools and how removing stimulus can actually be the key to success when it comes to decreasing pain and improving movement.  I talk about overactivity in different systems of the brain, and why sometimes staying in that elevated state of activity can lead to pain, anxiety, lack of focus, training imbalances, and more.  By inhibiting some parts of the nervous system, we can focus our training away from areas that are increasing threat, or are simply doing too much of the work so that we can target a weaker system that isn't properly doing it's job.  I relay the stories of several clients that benefited from inhibition tools, and give concrete examples of tools that you can easily purchase or make at home. This is a powerful concept that can be useful for those who keep trying to "train" their problems without success, or have "tried everything" and nothing works.

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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What if you could fix your tight hamstrings by gargling water? In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, about how we can better understand movement by learning about the structures of the brain.  I go over the main areas of the brain associated with movement, and discuss their location, their function, how to assess them, and how to train them.  This episode ties together a bunch of concepts previously discussed on the podcast, like threat, the opposing joint theory, posture and gait assessment, and more, but with a focus on the brain areas that drive many of the inputs and outputs for the rest of the body.  We also have a free-ranging discussion around our recent experiences with applied neurology in our own training, and discuss the real-world impacts that gargling, humming, pencil pushups, finger tapping, and vestibular drills are having on our lives today. 

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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What if you could design your training program based on how you walk?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, about gait assessment, and how the way you walk can reveal the health of your brain and give you clues about how to improve your movement and decrease pain.  I discuss the difference between running gait and walking gait, the biomechanical rabbit hole, and why gait assessment is one of my most important assessment tools.  I break down four common patterns to look for when assessing gait and give details on how to recognize them, what they mean for the brain and higher order systems, and starting points for training based on each pattern.  I also talk about my earliest experiences with gait assessment, why people on Instagram think I'm crazy, and why my current training program revolves around improving my own walking gait.  

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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Are you or is someone you know hypermobile and dealing with pain?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, all about hypermobility, and how it's often connected to chronic pain, injury, and even autonomic issues.  I use neurology to explain why this might be, as well as discuss how I approach training hypermobile individuals to decrease pain, optimize interoception, and improve strength in end-ranges of motion.  I also discuss how hypermobile individuals are often attracted to modalities centered around flexibility, why this might not be the best training tool for them, and why hypermobility can lead to mapping with pain instead of proprioception, especially at end-ranges of motion.  This episode is a great starting point for tackling common issues associated with hypermobility and lays out practical training tools that you can implement right away to start to assess and improve movement and decrease pain in hypermobile individuals. 

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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Did you know that applied neurology isn't actually the goal?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, about the importance of a balanced strength and movement practice as the foundation for a healthy, fit, and pain-free life.  I discuss my own training practice, the pros and cons of following a strict regimen vs following your intuition, why interoception is one of the most important things I teach, why I prioritize balance and coordination over strength, free weights vs machines, gait cycle, rate of perceived exertion and more.  I outline the programming we follow in our Strength Dojo and how we integrate applied neurology throughout while still building strength, mobility, and resilience.  I also caution the applied neurology enthusiasts against seeing everything in terms of targeted interventions when focusing on the fundamentals may be the solution they are seeking.  This episode will empower you to better understand how your body responds to training, and to think about training in a more comprehensive way than just getting faster or stronger.  

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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What if your knee pain can be cured by smelling salts?  In this episode, I speak with my podcast producer, Tony, all about the trigeminal nerve and why this large nerve in the face can have far reaching effects on the rest of the body.  I discuss the anatomy of the trigeminal nerve, its primary functions, its connection to the brainstem and cranial nerves, and how these connections can manifest in surprising ways.  I go over how to assess and train different aspects of the trigeminal nerve, using tools that range from touch, to motor control, to vision, to activating the nasal cavity through scent, and how you can use these tools today to improve trigeminal function, increase map clarity, reduce threat, and potentially reduce or eliminate pain or movement dysfunction.  While the focus is on the trigeminal nerve, we cover a variety of related topics from jaw alignment, scoliosis, autonomic function, blood pressure, botox and more, and underscore the importance of not relying solely on biomechanical connections when dealing with pain and mobility issues.

Thank you to my podcast idea man and coach, Tony Fowler (Instagram: @tone_reverie) for helping me put together this episode!

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