STABILITY
What is stability, and how can we REALLY improve it through training.
Stability refers to controlled movement. As you walk, run, jump, bike, throw, swim there are big forces acting on your body. And you need to know how to deal with them….or else. I’ve always said “high forces through unstable levers = Breakdown!”
Stability isn’t how well you stand in one spot for 30 seconds. Its not static. All the things that you live to do are in fact very DYNAMIC. And every joint influences every other joint. If you have a certain range of motion in your ankle, but the control in your foot below and hips above are solid to help control that ankle, you are going to have a blast doing all the things you live to do. But if you show up with a weak link in the chain, you won’t be able to stabilize your motion, and that’s where ….”Uh,Houston…..we have a problem” comes from. And that means we need to put some time into FOCUSED TRAINING.
FOCUS is the key to improve LEARNING …..which improves your STABILITY!
Your body needs skilled control to perform. You likely once started to train your core and got better. You got better at training shoulders. Feet can be trained too. Feet are made up of 26 bones – and all those bones require SKILLED control to build a stable foundation. I know that people with foot and lower leg issues often say they have ‘weak feet’, but the reason a lot of people are a wobbly mess isn’t strength, its a deficit if skill. And to build that skill, your brain needs to FOCUS on your brain-body connection. So if you are training to build a better foot on your MOBO while distracting yourself with TV, social media, or your kid’s homework, there’s no FOCUS. The ‘secret sauce chemicals’ (called neurotransmitters) aren’t released to trigger your nerves to network. Your foot and ankle might be moving, but you really aren’t LEARNING, and the outcome of that session is wasted.
FOCUS is the key to CHANGE ….and LEARNING!
When you FOCUS on the task at hand, we get a much different outcome. Its like turning the garden hose on full blast! But instead of water, you spray a secret sauce of neurotransmitters (called acetylcholine and epinephrine if you are interested) that floods and activates your nerves. This change in neurophysiology builds new networks, creates new pathways, and ensures you LEARN your new skill much quicker.
Take Home: the experiences that you pay SUPER important attention to are what opens up PLASTICITY to build better control in your body. And that gives YOU better results.
Best Practices for FOCUSING on STABILITY
3 tips to get more out of your training time
The following tips relate to building SKILL. This is not the same as trying to do more/heavier squat reps; that’s trying to increase the load on your body to build stronger parts. And there IS a place for that! But building skill isn’t about strength. It’s about strategy. And remember, the goal of training on MOBO isn’t to get good at MOBO, but to practice + build skilled control that transfers to the things you love to do. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of ANY training you do to learn new things.
Lots of short sessions are better than cramming sessions: When your brain is fresh, we can challenge it a bit more. Instead of using MOBO once a week for 45 min, use it 3-5x a week for 5-10 min. It reduces fatigue and improved processing in your brain. This means fewer errors, and more importantly, better transfer of skills into your life + sport.
Variability: On our exercises page, you’ll notice that we have a list of exercises in each block. Why? You need some VARIABILITY to optimize SKILL. So instead of sticking with the same 3 exercises each week, you’ll actually LEARN more by doing DIFFERENT exercises and cycling through them.
Take breaks: Breaks are good. Rest is good. If you get super fatigued and sloppy, you are practicing and reinforcing bad form. Give rest as needed (even 15-30 seconds may be enough!) to ensure you get quality out of each rep.
Your Mind on Music….and the other distractions of Social Media
One last pearl here. Some people love music when training, studying, etc. But how does music impact FOCUS?
There’s a zone of optimal arousal. When you pop out of bed tired in the morning, you aren’t ready for the most intense concentration of your day. Likewise, slamming 2 cans of RedBull and being on the field with 100,000 fans cheering your name gets you a bit too pumped up to think clearly. Poor arousal = poor outcomes.
Think of music as a way to get you into the ‘right zone’. You likely aren’t going to play Rage Against the Machine if you are writing a term paper, and you aren’t going to mellow out to Joni Mitchel if you are trying to get pumped up for your key race of the year. When it comes to the impact of music on FOCUS, the research is pretty clear: If you want to use music, find something that helps to get you in the right level of mental arousal, but isn’t too distracting. And if you don’t think you need music to find that state of mental arousal, you are likely better off without it if the task you are doing requires a lot of FOCUS.
Sure, you can crank Rage Against the Machine when you are trying to get pumped to do your last set of squats, but if you are trying to build SKILL, it’s a bit too intense, will detract your focus away from the task, and impair your learning. Shifting your mind to what’s important will earn WINS!
Putting it all together back on the field, court, track, and snow
So we just identified the best practices for BUILDING skilled control for better stability. But we don’t just build stability in test tube (your home gym). We need to ensure there’s a bridge from building stability until we get you back out doing the things you love outside. Because the demands of the real world aren’t as simple as a quiet room. In your sport, you’ve got other people, sounds, visual distractions, competition, balls flying, traffic around you, whatever. The point is that your nervous system is going to be TAXED trying to ensure you new SKILLS carry over into your sports specific scenario. To teach your nervous system to USE these new skills in new environments, we can start to tweak your environment.
If your sport uses a ball, its time to add that ball into your MOBO training. Yes, I’m talking about kicking a soccer ball while balance on your mobo on one leg. Yes, I’m talking about passing and shooting baskets on your MOBO.
If your sport requires more extreme precision in specific poses (dancers, I’m looking at you) then aim to integrate poses and positions into your MOBO training. The same skills will carry over.
Distractions: while we said that FOCUS is paramount to learn, we do need to train your nervous system to deal with the distractions you’ll face in your sport. So when you are getting into the sports specific transfer, it may be time to use your MOBO in the field, in a louder environment, with loud sounds. The goal here is to integrate your new skill into the reality you deal with in your sport. You, your coach, and your local therapist know those challenges better than anyone, so make a list and get to it.