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    Having trouble finding training time?  Make better use of downtime or your training run to get the most out of your day.

    Many of us find ourselves with time during the day where our cognition is not critical to what we are doing.  We might be standing in line, taking a shower or unfortunately sitting in a meeting where the current topic isn’t very relevant to us.  Or we might be out for a training run or walk where we are just trying to accumulate mileage.  We often fill up this time by checking our phones, listening to music, people watching, thinking about something else or just tuning out, all of which might be enjoyable and perhaps productive. 

    If you are serious about improving as a runner, it represents a perfect opportunity to train some running skills that you don’t often get around to, like running form, vision, balance, breathing, and mobility to name a few.  One of the things we love about NeuroTraining is that many aspects can be done almost anywhere, e.g., home, office, gym, road or trail.  NeuroTraining while you are running is particularly appealing, because you are not only learning a skill, but applying it in the context of the activity that you are hoping to improve. 

    The only requirement is singular focus or mindfulness on the skill you are trying to improve.  Your brain is most likely to remember things that are important.  If you are not focused or are trying to improve multiple things at once, it’s almost a direct message that says, “What I’m doing right now isn’t that important.”  If you want to train several things when you run, do them one at a time and take a little time to just run without a focus in between.  We often call this “Do the drill, forget the drill”.  “Do the drill” is a conscious, focused acquisition of skill or knowledge and “Forget the drill” is a non-conscious application and integration of what you’ve just learned.

    Filed Under: Problems and Solutions Tagged With: NeuroPractice

    Improve your senses to improve your running

    It’s rare that anyone considers improving their senses to improve their running.  Honestly, it’s rare that anyone considers improving their senses at all.  That’s mostly because they don’t know that it’s possible, how to do it or why it matters.  When you understand how the brain evaluates risk and limits performance accordingly, the value of sensory skill becomes apparent.

    Your brain receives 11 to 20 million signals per second of sensory information, everything you see, hear, smell, taste and feel.  But it also receives loads of other information about your surroundings, your movement and position and your body chemistry.  For instance, think about proprioception, homeostasis monitoring and inner ear as senses too.  Your brain constantly evaluates information and adjusts your capabilities based on perceived risk to your safety or survival. 

    Why might that matter to running?  Some of the capabilities that your brain controls and adjusts for risk include blood flow, flexibility, muscle firing rates and strength, coordination, respiratory rate, and heart rate.  Sound relevant?

    Which senses matter most to your running and could be worth some training?  While everyone is different and anything can cause anything, the most likely movements to benefit your running are vision, inner ear, and proprioception.  While each is important in its own right, together they are the key elements of balance which makes them doubly important.  In addition to improving sensory function, it’s important to improve your brain’s tolerance and reaction to sensory information.  For instance, improved tolerance to CO2 levels in your bloodstream may keep you from over breathing.  Training in different temperatures may help you become a better hot or cold runner. Better proprioception may help keep an ankle roll from becoming a sprain.

    So, if you’re looking for what might be holding your running performance back, want to accelerate your progression, prolong your running career or just enjoy running more, give sensory training a try.  One particularly nice thing is that doesn’t take much time and can be done anywhere.

    Filed Under: Featured Articles, Problems and Solutions

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