Your vestibular system is integral to performance. It is an essential situational awareness system and contributes to movement in low visibility and maintaining position against an external force. The performance of your vestibular system is also vulnerable to repeated subconcussive exposures. That is why it is so important to incorporate vestibular training into your training.… Continue reading How to Add Vestibular Training to Your Plyometrics
Tag: Vestibular system
Maintaining Position Against an External Force
Force = Mass x Acceleration. Maintaining position against an external force requires the ability to counteract both the mass and the acceleration components. You need to have the physical output capabilities, like strength, to hold your position. But strength alone isn’t enough to hold your position. Take bull riders for example. In order to stay… Continue reading Maintaining Position Against an External Force
Peripheral Target Centralization
You want two things to happen when centralizing on a peripheral target: Because the faster you can turn your head and keep that target in focus, the faster you can accurately engage it. Rapid centralization of a peripheral target requires your vestibular system. To maintain that peripheral target focus as you move your head, your… Continue reading Peripheral Target Centralization
Background Systems
When executing in conditions with high cognitive demands, you need certain sensory systems to be working at a high level in the background. I think of your vestibular and somatosensory systems primarily as background systems, meaning they shouldn’t have your attention often. When functioning at a high level, these systems allow your attention to be… Continue reading Background Systems
5x Faster
The earliest visual responses occur at a substantially longer latency (about 80msec) compared to vestibular responses (about 14msec). [1] This isn’t to diminish the importance of the visual system, but rather emphasize the importance of optimizing your vestibular system to enhance your performance. If you are visually dependent on your movement control and situational awareness,… Continue reading 5x Faster
Own Your Movement
You want to own your movement. By that I mean, no matter the conditions, you are consistent with control over your movement. Most people train with their attention on their movement, usually staring directly at their feet, then wonder why that control doesn’t translate under the real-life conditions they execute in. But they’ve trained visual… Continue reading Own Your Movement
Which Sensory System Are You Relying on?
When performing on a stable surface and well-lit environment, your visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems are all sending information to your central nervous system (CNS) that is similar. But you aren’t always performing in perfect conditions. When you ruck through mud or sand, the information regarding the position of your ankles (somatosensory information) is going… Continue reading Which Sensory System Are You Relying on?
Train Angular and Linear Acceleration/Deceleration
We move in both angular and linear planes. Angular planes are Yaw (like shaking your head “no”) Pitch (like shaking your head “yes”) Roll (like moving your ear down to your shoulder) Linear planes are Moving up/down Moving side/side Moving forward/back As a tactical athlete you want to ensure that your training program incorporates all… Continue reading Train Angular and Linear Acceleration/Deceleration
Speed in Every Plane
Have you ever watched a movie where they are filming from the perspective of a person running and the camera is shaking all over the place and you can’t keep the scene in focus? But then when they slow down it becomes clear again. Why is that? It’s because when they are moving slowly, your… Continue reading Speed in Every Plane
What Your Hearing Protection Doesn’t Shield
Wearing hearing protection does not shield a vital situational awareness system called your vestibular system. [1] Your vestibular system is in your inner ear, just deeper than your hearing system. If you can move and keep a target in focus, if you have fast reactions and the ability to move with your head on a… Continue reading What Your Hearing Protection Doesn’t Shield