REVOLUTIONARY NEW APPROACH TO THE TRAINING PROCESS IN SWIMMING
For
centuries the methods of training have been primarily designed to increase
muscle strength and endurance. Each sport may use its own specific exercises,
but principally the exercise theories do not vary greatly from one sport to
another. But there is an innovative new training method that will lead to
optimum performance levels for your swimmers. It’s called REFLEX ACTION
TRAINING.
The physiological term for a muscle is a
‘biomachine.’ When nerve stimuli (action potential - 70 m volts) reach the muscle
cells they contract. But, how much strength do the cells produce? What is
the speed of muscle contraction? How are these important parameters controlled
by the Central Nervous System (CNS), because they play the main role in the
precise movements and sport actions of an athlete? When a coach trains a team
(swimmers, boxers, soccer, football, basketball, baseball and so on) with a
single program, he sees different results from each athlete. This is natural
because everyone’s reactions, speed and strength of their muscle contractions
are different. To be more precise, their muscle-brain interactions are
different.
The whole, step-by-step physiological process of
muscle performance could be described as the follows:
* The first nerve signal (action potential/electrical charge)
initiates the primary muscle cell contraction. The propioceptors (sensors) --
tendons, bones and joints -- create the signals of changing of the tension,
positions of the joints in space and rush the signals to the brain. The signals
are analyzed, integrated into the brain and new signals are sent to the proper
muscles for the next stage of contraction. The muscle cells, when they have
received the next nerve signal, are contracted again and again. The
proprioceptors have reacted by signaling to the brain the new tension condition
in the muscles and new position of joints. These signals pass through the brain
and rush to the muscles for the next action. Such a feedback process will
continue until the muscles complete the job – to accomplish the performance
goal.
It could be stated that professional actions in
any sport very much depend on the performance of the interactions between the
proprioceptors and the brain. The four main points are:
1. The speed of signal created inside
the proprioceptors is about 10-20msec.
2. The speed of
the signals, which run from the proprioceptors to the brain and back to the
muscles, vary between 0.5-120 msec. or 1 to 270 mph. depending on various
nerves lengths and diameters.
3. The analysis,
integration and formation of nerve signals into the brain for core muscles and
working muscles vary between 10 to 500 msec, depending on the need to
coordinate the decision with various parts of the brain, based on the
complexity of the task.
4. The speed of the muscle cell contraction on
the nerve signal varies between 5 to 50 msec, depending on the muscle.
These four factors play the main role in determining the speed of
professional performance actions of an athlete in any sport, as the time for
any athlete’s action would be the sum of the time mentioned above, varying
between 84 msecond to 0.570 seconds. All large muscles involved in locomotion
and movement of the body, legs and arms have large diameter nerve fibers around
10-20 microns and the nerve signal velocity around 100-120 meters per second.
This means the whole process of a swim stroke would take the sum of times and
would be around 100 - 300 msec, depending of the training grade of nervous
system.
The process, described above, is actual as for
DIRECT action as for REFLEX action.
In the DIRECT action an athlete is consciously controlling each
movement he has been studying (i.e., riding bike, driving car, skiing and so
on).
In the
DIRECT action a person consciously receives an image of the goal and the
necessary actions needed to control them. The excitation of the cortex and its
brain energy creates the action potentials which pass through the brain and PMC
(Primary Motor Cortex) to the muscles for their performance to obtain the goal.
The REFLEX action means the primary signals -
electric potentialities - appear in the body sensors and proprioceptors in the
process of interactions with an environment. Information -- signals from all
body muscles, tendons and joints -- is received and analyzed by the brain and
then rushed to the muscles for actions. In this situation the consciousness is
controlling only the global tendency vector to reach the goal – to win the
race. In the race a swimmer is not thinking about the right position of his
arms, legs or stroke. He is racing to be the first. All the physical action he
is doing is an automatic regimen of Reflex actions. The faster and sharper the
signals from the sensors and proprioceptors:
·the faster and
sharper the process of analysis and integration into the brain;
·the faster and
more precise the muscle contractions;
·the more accurate
the performance of an athlete;
·and the higher
the speed of the athlete’s reactions and actions.
Think about this new approach to the
swimming training process. Swimming is a perfect combination of high speed
muscle contractions with their relaxation.
Pretend you are taking a powerful stroke in
weightlessness conditions (outer space).Your stroke would turn your body in the opposite direction. The quantity
of movement (speed x mass) of the parts of the body should equal zero. In the
water, when a swimmer takes the powerful stroke, using water resistance he
should compensate his body with side-by-side movements of his core muscles,
which contract a moment earlier than the muscles, in conjunction with the
powerful stroke. If a swimmer wants to improve his powerful stroke, he should
primarily train the core muscles and especially their interaction with the
brain.
So, based on the above example, it could be
stated that speed of a stroke is very much dependent on the performance of the
interaction system between the proprioceptors and the brain. The quicker the
interaction (i.e. the shorter time it takes proprioceptor signals to travel to
the brain, for the brain tointegrate
the signals and process the decision, and for the signals to direct the muscles
cells to react), the more precise and quicker the action. If we accept that a
swimmer is racing in automatic regimen -- on reflex basis -- then it is
necessary to train the swimmer’s reflexes. Based on the above, it should be
necessary to train:
*proprioceptors and their
ability to produce quick and accurate nerve signals for positioning,
stretching, acceleration, strength, contractions and so on;
*communication bonds
between the proprioceptors and the brain;
*analytical and integration processes
of the signals into the brain;
*speed of muscle contraction for the
returning signals.
Some coaches demand numerous repetitive
movements or actions of their swimmers to establish their automatic actions.
They are using the direct action system. This is helping to the swimmer to
perform the job, but this is not training the reflexes.
Let us consider the physiology of the swimming
race from the point of fatigue and especially from point where the nerve energy
is spent. The muscle cell contractions need energy to produce the job. There
are several mechanisms to supply the cell with the energy depending on the
intensity and duration of the work. All these mechanisms are trained with the
existing methods of endurance training. But the strength and speed of the cell
contraction depends on the energy of the nerve signals generated by the brain.
The brain cells – neurons -- need a lot of energy to establish all necessary
interactions to the brain and form the needed signals to the muscle cells.
In reality, a swimmer is continuously moving
through the water and his brain is continuously receiving information about his
moves, positions, water resistance and all his interactions with water. The
brain’s work picture of swimming is rather complicated. The brain of the
swimmer is receiving signals from his proprioceptors about each muscle, tendon
and joint condition. His vestibular system sends signals about his body
balance, acceleration and equilibrium. His visual system sends signals about
the distance, speed, position, reaction. His skin is signaling the water pressure.
All these signals run to the brain simultaneously and a continual process. The
brain is analyzing all the signals continuously, making motor coordination in
the Cerebellum part of his brain, planning and programming in the Cortex and
formulating and executing the signals to the muscle cells to make each stroke.
This tremendous amount of brain work demands a lot of energy and the swimmer is
tires not only from muscle fatigue but also from his brain exhaustion. Our
brain, as any other part of our body, is able to be trained based on the global
adaptation law of all living spaces of our world.
How can you train your brain so that
the exhausting DIRECT ACTION exercised become REFLEX ACTIONS?
REFLEX ACTION brain training is possible, with
the assistance ofspecial exercises and
machines.
I have created the principals for revolutionary
new machines for brain training. I have designed 15 applications for this new
wave of brain training, which could be easily patented. Your same existing
cardio and resistance machines also could be easily and slightly changed for
this new type of training. I have developed a method designed just for top
level athletes to increasing the speed of their reactions, especially in
combination with heavy work loads – a perfect system swim training. My system
includes some 365 different exercises for training the propioceptors, reflexes
and brain, which are described in my book,
“Brain Training for Healthy Life and Sport Achievement.”
This new approach to the training process does
not conflict with any existing methods. This complements the swimmer’s workout.
In the process of training
proprioceptors
and the brain, a swimmer can obtain 1,000 to 10,000 interactions per second.
This means the swimmer’s brain could process thousands of strokes per second,
which is tremendously faster than if one solely uses the average swim stroke in
their swimming training process. These thousands of interactions will
establish quicker communication bonds between the brain components involved in
the signal analysis. This can only be accomplished through REFLEX ACTION
exercises.Each time one’s arm is moved by
the machine the perceptual threshold (sensitivity level of sensors) is
triggering the arm’s proprioceptors to create the signals. The signals run to
the brain, interact with the brain components and return back to the muscles.
If the arm is moved 40 inches (one meter) and the proprioceptors will create a
signal every one-tenth of an inch (sensitivity level) we are generating 400
separate signals from EACH MUSCLE INVOLVED IN THE MOVEMENT INNITIATED BY THE
MACHINE. The brain will send the first signals to THE CORE MUSCLES and after
the core muscles contract additional signals will run to the primary muscles.
This describes the direct training of the core muscles and its
relationship with the brain. The importance of the core muscles is well known
to athletes and coaches, but the training the brain and its interactions with
the core muscles is a new approach in swimming training.
Wouldn’t you want your swimmers to greatly enhance their performance –
without having to consciously think about it? That is what my new system
can provide for your athletes.
I am ready to meet and discuss any kind of cooperative business venture
for implementing this new approach to the brain training process. I assure you
these methods will result in significantly greater swimming performance.
Valeriy YEFREMOV
26536 Isabella Parkway, Santa
Clarita, CA. 91351
T. 661. 424-9318. Cell: 661.313-1759.
E-mail: Arinaval@hotmail.com.