Exercise Etc Older Adult Workshop vs. Brain-Based Training

I have been a fan of Exercise Etc workshops for years.  Guy Andrews and his team do an amazing job educating trainers how to work with the older adult population.  I have learned valuable functional exercises for baby boomers and their parents.  They do a great job teaching simple exercises for the aging spine, hip, and shoulders.

If you don't know me, I've been studying the brain and how the brain works at the doctorate level for the past two years.  When you study the brain, your perspective of everything changes.  Things that present as problems in the body, begin in the brain.

I went to a local Exercise Etc workshop this weekend hoping to learn something new and to see how the standard senior fitness programming fits into the brain scheme of things.  

The instructor, Mike Diebler, is a great guy and extremely knowledgeable about movement.  He did acknowledge several things about the nervous system (aka, the brain) that I thought were interesting.  

• We agreed about the importance of identifying the cause of the movement problem.  In Z-Health, we are taught to take an extensively thorough health history.   The cause of every movement problem lies somewhere in the nervous system.  In Z-Health, we have an 8-Levels model of assessment to systematically identify the source of the problem.
• We agreed that no matter how much you try to 'workout' a problem or weakness on one-side, it will always exist.  In Z-Health, we are taught about the brain and that there are two sides.  After years of lifestyle habits, one side of the brain usually needs more activation.  In Z-Health, we systematically identify the dysfunctional side and activate it.  A person has to earn the right to train bilaterally
• We agreed about the importance of deep inhales and long, strong exhales.  The diaphragm is your breathing muscle and like any other muscle in the body, it needs to be worked in it's full range of motion.  We humans are shallow breathers and do not fully exercise our diaphragm.  The reprecussions are bent forward postures.  We need to stretch the diaphragm.

I left after the morning sessions.  It was good to go there but I didn't learn anything new.  Please do not get me wrong; I by no means, think I know it all. I do not.  I mean that the fitness industry as a whole isn't teaching anything new.  

There are only so many ways you can move your body.  The only way to change the way you move is to activate the brain.  You can stretch and strengthen your "posture" muscles all day everyday but if your brainstem isn't getting the balance of extension and flexion activation, your posture will never improve.

If however, you activate the brainstem, your posture will improve immediately.   It's brain-based. It's science.  It's neurology. 

Thank you Exercise Etc for coaching me to be a great proprioceptive trainer.  Now I'm a  brain-based practitioner who activates vision, vestibular and proprioceptive systems for optimal performance and reduced pain.