How
to Activate "Survival Reflexes" for Improved Strength
and Function
By Paul Chek, HHP, NMT
Founder, C.H.E.K Institute
When you see all the
fancy cars exiting the drive through at McDonald’s, it’s
hard to imagine that the people driving those cars are actually
the product of millions of years of evolution, having battled
the elements, fought off predators and are what Darwin would consider
the ‘fittest’ of our species. In fact, until nearly
10,000 years ago, most of our ancestors still lived a very primal
existence, with some tribes existing right up into the 1930s.
For the vast majority
of our evolution, we were dependent upon our natural instinctive
and reflexive behaviors for survival and life consisted largely
of hunting, gathering, and fighting to protect our food and territory.
It’s not too hard to imagine that a hunter would occasionally
sustain a sprained ankle, knee, or strained shoulder in the process
of bringing down an animal but, with no other option than to "just
keep going" when hunting, gathering or defending ourselves,
the body developed elaborate mechanisms for overriding pain and
improving performance.
Over the years, using
clinical experimentation with various pieces of gym equipment,
I have recognized one such evolutionary mechanism and call it
the Survival Reflex.
The Survival
Reflex
When working with
post-surgical back pain patients and females who had either a
hysterectomy or a cesarean section, it was a struggle to activate
muscles that had been damaged due to surgical incisions. During
one particular session, I noticed that immediately after my client
performed a kneeling exercise on a Swiss Ball, a task that she
felt challenged and afraid of falling, her lower abdominal muscles
began to fire during her struggle to stay on the ball.
Surprised, I took her
off the ball and applied numerous objective tests, finding that
the previously dormant transverse abdominis and surrounding lower
abdominal muscles were firing very well!
I began testing this
method with all of my clients who demonstrated motor inhibition
(lazy muscles) and found that in most cases the previously dormant
muscle remained active after a survival challenge (balance challenge),
the only variation being the duration of activity.
Improved Lifting
Strength
My next natural progression
for the application of survival reflex activation of dormant muscles
was to see if this method could improve lifting strength. Not
surprisingly, IT DID! To date, I haven’t found anyone who
did not feel at least a sense of improved ease with regard to
applied intensity for a given lift. Most people notice their legs
and trunk are more stable when performing squats, deadlifts or
any exercise requiring high force output in a functional (standing),
unsupported position.
The explanation for
this seems to be a built in survival reflex override system that
activates any and every muscle needed to improve the probability
of survival. After all, simply falling and breaking a tibia, fibula
or femur could have been the end of you 10,000 years ago, so having
stabilizer muscles fire when they were supposed to was a matter
of survival!
Figure
1 - Survival Reflex Activation
You can use this reflex
override to your advantage when training simply by performing
a balance challenge for 10 to 30 seconds and up to 60 seconds
if the intensity is low; make sure you are in a safe environment
so if you fall you won’t get injured (See Figure 1).
Improved Performance
As long as you don’t overly fatigue yourself with the balance
challenge, you will find that after attempting any exercise that
makes the nervous system think you may fall, you will experience
improved performance over the entire stabilizer system as part
of a survival strategy for the body. For most people, the improved
performance generally lasts about the length of one set. Therefore,
the survival/balance challenge should be repeated between sets
and as close to the beginning of the set as possible.
Figure
2 - Jackie Hawkins demonstrates an extreme variation of survival
reflex activation.
The survival reflex
potency is improved as the threat to survival increases! For example,
standing on a balance board, or even on the floor on one leg,
will activate a survival reflex in some people. On the other end
of the spectrum, martial artist Jackie Hawkins is one of the few
people in the world that can stand on a Swiss ball on one leg
(Figure 2). However, for everyone else, simply closing your eyes
while standing on one leg will activate this survival reflex in
anyone. A slightly more challenging version of this is to stand
on one leg with your eyes closed and have a partner gently nudge
you to get you slightly off balance. Sometimes, two or three repetitions
of this process (in a row) will yield even greater results, but,
remember not to fatigue yourself in the process or else you will
defeat the purpose!
Not only do people
experience a gain in exercise performance by activating the survival
reflex, many people also notice momentary reduction in pain in
and around joints after such an exercise. This is due to an endorphin
release and activation of stabilizer muscles throughout the kinetic
chain--a cheap high that improves performance!
The Swiss ball training
experience is usually welcomed by those who have suffered a sporting
or work injury and have never been able to restore optimal function
as a result of it. Using the techniques and exercises demonstrated
in my "Swiss Ball Exercises For Better Abs, Buns and Backs"
(for beginners of all ages) and "Swiss ball Exercises For
Athletes," most people are able to achieve dramatically improved
musculoskeletal performance right in their own home.
For those of you who
enjoy the gym, you can take your whole training routine to an
entirely new level by applying the advanced techniques using dumbbells
and cables with our special burst resistant Duraball; this information
is available in my three-video set titled "Strong ‘N’
Stable."
For those of you who
fit the description of someone that hasn’t achieved optimal
health, strength or performance and are likely to find survival
reflex activation techniques useful, a fully individualized Paul
Chek health and exercise program is available to you in my new
book "How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy!" For the first
time ever, you can identify how much stress key body systems are
under and learn which eating and lifestyle modifications and which
exercises will facilitate the most rapid return of function, health
and vitality.
To learn more about
Paul Chek’s many books, videos, audios, courses and articles,
visit the C.H.E.K Institute web site or call for a catalog. For
the rehabilitation professional wanting to learn more about "Survival
Reflexes" and other useful assessment techniques and corrective
exercises, see Paul Chek’s "Advanced Swiss Ball for
Rehabilitation" video. Visit Paul Chek’s Web site at
www.chekinstitute.com
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