It’s not too often in fitness that a new training discovery is revealed that would classify as epic. I would have to say that the article that I will cite from in this post explains a new and yes, epic, fitness paradigm shift.
This new focus is pliability!
Here is a moment of truth for those who want to establish a greater mind + body connection…
Alex Guerrero is the personal body coach for Tom Brady. Next is a glimpse of his training philosophy…
“[A]ging [then] becomes a number, and your only ability to not do something is based on the muscles' ability to support whatever your acts of daily living are. I feel that pliability is the key to being able to accomplish that, [and] you can start to make physiologic change over the course of 14-day cycles. Over two weeks you can start to create new neural pathways for the way that you want to function and move …” ¹
Pliability training is based on creating new neural pathways to connect the brain to the muscle.
Guerrero realized that the athletes he was training were all performing movements comprised of learned behavior and they were feeling good after an injury recovery only to result in re-injury. He hypothesized that since the brain was developing more neural pathways based on the way the athletes wanted to move, then the same principle should be applied to treatment. He felt that, “if the brain can create neural pathways based on functional movement, then I should be able to do some functional movement during my treatments so that the brain can create more neural pathways for getting better as opposed to just feeling better.”
Have you ever thought about the longevity of Tom Brady’s career? If you’re a fitness professional you should have at least wondered why he still performs at the level that he does. Brady’s muscles have managed to keep up with his NFL athletic requirements over an incredibly long career span.
Some of the old training methods held dear by many athletes have had to be scuttled in the process of moving to pliability training for performance longevity.
Modern training methods have shifted from the old school heavy weights and high impact sets that take their impact toll on the human body.
Resistance bands provide superior pliability results…
“So, for example, Tom doesn't do bench presses, but when he has to test for bench press, he can still lift 225 pounds, 18 times. We don't lose any power or strength by doing [resistance bands]. We’re just looking to keep our muscles long and lean so that they can be functional for what you're asking them to do every day.” ²
Check out this story of a Guerrero client…
“Our oldest client is 87; his best friend is 85. Their goal was to go ride the Tour de France circuit on their bikes. I thought that was a crazy goal, right? But they figured it would take them three months and they wanted to go do that. So, we put together a program for them, and they did it. They came back five months later, and not only did they do [the Tour de France], but they also decided to go on a [scuba] diving expedition …” ³
Guerrero also uses far infrared as a part of his pliability training. Interestingly he uses infrared sleepwear to accomplish this.
HOTWORX will be rolling out the use of bands with two new workouts this August to all studio locations.
Stay tuned.
Steve
