This series of posts will focus on the basics of maintaining an optimal level of health so that you are certain not to miss any of the critical steps on your way to maximum health and fitness.
Neuromuscular what??? When it comes to the technical terms behind a maximum level of health and fitness, the actual words can seem overwhelming, but I assure you that the meaning behind them is very down to earth!
In a nutshell, neuromuscular coordination is nothing more fancy than your ability to exert both conscious and subconscious control over your muscles and supporting tissues. Actually, everyone already has a very high level of neuromuscular coordination, but you can enhance this "mind-muscle" connection via exercise, thus increasing the benefits.
Benefits of Neuromuscular Coordination
Increased Strength
One of the biggest benefits of neuromuscular coordination is a marked and measurable increase in your level of strength.
There is a common – although incorrect – belief that strength is all about the actual size of a person's muscles. Now, although size does play a factor, the ability to consciously control your muscles is also a very large part of your actual level of strength.
Every movement of the human body is a combination of innumerable processes all interacting with each at a speed and level of communication that is all but incomprehensible. However, just as the saying goes, "practice makes perfect".
The more you practice any given movement, the better your body becomes at executing that movement. Via repetition, your body learns how best to recruit and utilize all of the myriad different processes that power and control that movement.
Simply having large muscles will not do you any good if you cannot control them. Consider the case of someone who has been in a paralyzing accident or has had some sort of brain trauma such as a stroke. Their muscles are no larger or smaller than they were prior to the incident, yet their brain can no longer control some of their muscles, thus causing partial or complete lack of mobility.
Increased Balance
As with the increase in strength that was just discussed, your ability to balance in any given scenario is also increased due to a high level of neuromuscular coordination.
If it takes "x" number of bodily processes in order for you to walk across a parking lot, consider how many processes will rapidly have to come into play if you step on a patch wet, slippery ice and start to lose your balance.
If you exercise regularly – especially core stabilization exercises – your conscious as well as subconscious control over the bodily systems that are needed to keep you from falling will be maximized.
You might still flail around and look silly for a minute as you make the effort, but isn't that better than face-planting onto a dirty, wet, and icy parking lot?
Injury Prevention
In addition to avoiding an injury in scenarios such as the one above, having a high level of neuromuscular coordination can help you avoid injuries in other circumstances as well.
The act of exercising itself can be an injury-laden activity when not done properly, yet by increasing your mind-muscle connection by exercising properly, you will drastically decrease the chances that you will get hurt while exercising.
By learning how to properly do each and every exercise, you will be training your bodily systems to execute those movements with almost laser-like precision. That level of control has the added benefit of creating internal "alarms" that will go off if you do the exercise the wrong way.
A good example of this is the exercise pictured here, the Barbell Deadlift. It is an incredible exercise for your legs and lower back, but as with all exercises that use the lower back, if you do it wrong, you could get hurt.
However, by learning how to do that exercise the right way, and then practicing proper technique, you will quickly realize the "path" that your muscles take during the movement. If your feet are misplaced, you try to lift too much weight, or you don't keep your head up, your body will let you know by sending a "twinge" or other physical sensation. By recognizing and reacting to that internal alarm, you can save yourself a lifetime back injury.
In addition, there are countless movements that we perform in our daily lives that could potentially lead to injury if we are not in touch with our body via a high level of neuromuscular coordination.
These could include things like bending over to pick something up without properly bracing yourself, lifting heavy objects without activating the right leg and stabilizer muscles, or even just missing a step on a flight of stairs.
Conclusion
Overall, there are many benefits to having a high level of neuromuscular coordination, and there are no drawbacks whatsoever.
Also, if you are going to take the time to exercise anyway, it takes no more time to do your exercises the right way than it takes to do them the wrong way!
This concludes Part V of the Health, Diet, and Weight Loss Checklist Series. Feel free to share your comments on this entry, and you may also click here to read the other entries from this series.
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