Transitions and Integration

This post has multiple meanings...

Kinetic Edge just was relocated upstairs to a much larger space after only 8 months. I now have room for all of my 'toys.' Thanks to all of you who beared with me during this transition phase...I have been a little spacey lately to say the least with all of the build out and decisions that have had to be made. This has caused me to be on 'blog hiatus' for about a month. I'm back.

Let's explore transitions, integration and coordination on a deeper level from a movement perspective.

Most of the time we (scholars, schooling, teachers in general) tend to focus on the distal ends of skill development. We are are a society of wanting 'finished projects' and we want them:
1 our way
2 now
3 in perfect finished form

My own training recently has started to focus on the all of the in-between micro-movements. There are 1000s /1,000,000s of micro-movements within one main movement. I'll use the squat as an example for all of this.

Squatting is a multi-joint movement ...most of us focus on ankle / knee / hip some on low back as the 4 'main' joints. Let us not forget ALL of the small joints within the foot which are just as critical as the main 3 (ankle/knee/hip). Now in Z training there is isolated joint mobility for each one of these joints where it is singled out. After we can separate each joint movement without tension and have a clean movement pattern, we can then integrate a 2nd joint. This can continue until you've integrated a 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. joint into the movement. Then comes the re-coordination of all of the integrated 'parts.' I am finding this more and more extremely important in producing cleaner movement patterns and also increasing PRs, decreasing soreness (although at first, you will be pleasantly surprised at a new found level of tissue soreness), etc when exploring individual movements in depth.

Now take the squat and the multiple joints and perform individual Z drills at different levels of the squat. For example going into a 1/4 squat (or 5/16 squat or whatever level you want, because EVERY level matters) and perform a Ball of Foot Circle or a Closed Chain Knee Circle or a Ball of Foot Outside Toe Pull. Make sense? If not, seek a Z Level II trainer (minimum) to find out more because the videos won't do this justice.

Contact me for more info at brad@keperformance.com

P.S. I will be more diligent about updating my blog and putting out some stellar information!