Z Discoveries Part 2...The S.A.I.D Principle

Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands

This one could get deep so hang on. I studied this in college for about 10 minutes. Z brought it back into focus for about 4 days which brings me to think about it daily now.

The body (the mind, insert anything here) will adapt to whatever it is exposed to over time.
Two words where left out of this acronym per Dr. Cobb...' ALWAYS and EXACTLY ' .

The body will ALWAYS specfically adapt to EXACTLY the imposed demand. What does this mean? Sitting at a desk all day with slumped shoulders and tight hip flexors will lead to slouched standing posture with potential of low back pain in a very short period of time. This is only one example. Another example would be performing a posturely correct push-up. Most of the time people cannot do one correct push-up without severe anterior neck carriage and thoracic/lumbar sagging. We are about to change that. We do what we practice. We are what we practice. What are you practicing for?...sustained health, big biceps for the girls, seeing how many 1/8 squats you can do with 500 lbs? What EXACTLY are you training for and WHY?

The SAID principle has stood the test of time, yet most of us including myself have gave any attention to it beyond our sophomore Exer. Phys. class.

Let's take this a step further. Motor Learning is also enhanced and/or hindered by Cognitive Learning. This means that if you are telling yourself you can't do a proper push-up, you're right...you can't. ONLY when you begin to tell yourself that you will do one is when your body will start to adapt in order to do one. This is called 'chunking' where motor and cognitive are linked together for every task that we do in life. Here are 2 examples outside the training world.

1) picture your favorite food right now. the taste. the smell. Did you relax? thought so.
2) now picture cleaning the house. dusting. vaccuming. mopping. Did you tense? I did because I detest cleaning the house and it is why I hire a housekeeper.

Now both of those cognitive thoughts immediately had an effect on the physiology of your body. They are 'chunked' together.

Through my Z practice, my posture has improved, my jaw is continuing to move back in alignment, my L shoulder pain is gone with much increased ROM, my hip flexors feel great, my R low back is pain free, my L ankle/foot is 'unlocked' and overall I have decreased the amount of tension throughout my body dramatically. This is through religious Z practice at least 4x/week.

The SAID Principle applied to your Z practice and then on into your weight training/sport activity/daily activity will change the way you look, the way you feel, and the way you do everything.

Think about it. Get to a Z trainer. If you've already been to one, get to that person again and make sure they understand what they are training you to do.