Vibration training for athletes: What it is and does it work

Recently, a friend and colleague bought a VibePlate and has been raving about it. Since I am the eternal skeptic, I decided to do a little research on WHOLE BODY VIBRATION TRAINING (WBV). 

As much I am a believer in anecdotes and experience, the scientist in me wanted to see what research had been done what it yielded. 

The history of WBV has its roots in ancient Greece for performance enhancement in athletes where they would take a saw covered with cotton and apply vibrations to a part of the body that was not functioning properly. Dr. John Kellogg Harvey was also using WBV in the 1880's and 1890's at the Battle Creek Sanitarium as part of his "wellness" protocols. 

Most recently, we have seen the Russians using WBV for their cosmonauts which was followed closely NASA and the European Space Agency to offset the effects of being in space with no gravity which caused rapid muscle and bone density loss. 

Recently, a lot of research has been done for performance enhancement as well as physical therapy and the research is very mixed but with good reason. Because the technology is not uniform across the board and there are many variations on the apparatus, the research is inconsistent. Keeping that in mind, here's what we've come up with regarding athletic performance enhancement as well as physical therapy:

1: THE EFFICACY OF THE PLATFORMS DEPENDS UPON THE TYPE OF PLATFORM. ^ ^a b Marín, PJ; Rhea, MR (2010). "Effects of vibration training on muscle power: a meta-analysis.". Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association 24 (3): 871–8.doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c7c6f0. PMID 20145554.

THERE ARE FOUR TYPES:

1. High Energy Lineal, found mostly in commercial vibration training studios and gyms. The vibration direction is lineal/upward eliciting a strong stretch-reflex contraction in muscle fibres targeted by the positions of training program. 

2. Premium Speed Pivotal, (teeter-totter movement) used for physiotherapy work at lower speeds and exercise workouts at “premium” speed, up to 27 Hz. Both commercial and home units are available. 

3. Medium Energy Lineal, the majority of lineal platforms produced. These are usually made of plastic; some have 3-D vibration which is low quality. They give slower and less consistent results. 

4. Low Speed Pivotal units. These can give “therapy” benefits. Other machine types are low Energy/Low amplitude lineal and Low energy/High amplitude lineal with varying uses from osteoporosis prevention, therapy for improved blood circulation and flexibility and limited fitness training.

2. The SHORT TERM effects of WBV show that more motor units (read: brain) and their muscle fibers are incited more than non WBV training. Because of this hyper stimulation of the neuromuscular system, more force is able to be produced. However, MORE is not better. The WBV must be monitored closely as it can overwhelm the system causing fatigue. 

1. ^ ^a b Delecluse, C; Roelants, M; Diels, R; Koninckx, E; Verschueren, S (2005). "Effects of whole body vibration training on muscle strength and sprint performance in sprint-trained athletes.". International journal of sports medicine26 (8): 662–8. doi:10.1055/s-2004-830381. PMID 16158372.
2. ^ Lamont, Cramer, Gayaud, Acree, Bemben: Effects of different vibration interventions on indices of counter movement vertical jump performance in college aged males, Poster presentation ACSM, 2006
3. ^ Cormie, P; Deane, RS; Triplett, NT; McBride, JM (2006). "Acute effects of whole-body vibration on muscle activity, strength, and power.". Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association 20 (2): 257–61. doi:10.1519/R-17835.1. PMID 16686550.
4. ^ Bosco, C; Iacovelli, M; Tsarpela, O; Cardinale, M; Bonifazi, M; Tihanyi, J; Viru, M; De Lorenzo, A et al. (2000). "Hormonal responses to whole-body vibration in men.". European journal of applied physiology 81 (6): 449–54.PMID 10774867.
5. ^ Rittweger, J; Schiessl, H; Felsenberg, D (2001). "Oxygen uptake during whole-body vibration exercise: comparison with squatting as a slow voluntary movement.". European journal of applied physiology 86 (2): 169–73.doi:10.1007/s004210100511. PMID 11822476.
6. ^ Rittweger, J; Ehrig, J; Just, K; Mutschelknauss, M; Kirsch, KA; Felsenberg, D (2002). "Oxygen uptake in whole-body vibration exercise: influence of vibration frequency, amplitude, and external load.". International journal of sports medicine23 (6): 428–32. doi:10.1055/s-2002-33739. PMID 12215962.
7. ^ Abercromby, Amonette, Paloski, Hinman: Effect of knee flexion angle on neuromuscular responses to whole-body vibration, Abstract presented at NSCA National Conference, July 2005

3. WBV training does increase circulation to both the muscles and lymphatic system by the 30-50 times per second contractions and relaxation of the muscles which could prove very useful in post-workout/game activities as a way of active recovery. Again, the system would have be closely monitored and combined with other therapies to maximize recovery for athletes. 

1. ^ Kerschan-Schindl, K; Grampp, S; Henk, C; Resch, H; Preisinger, E; Fialka-Moser, V; Imhof, H (2001). "Whole-body vibration exercise leads to alterations in muscle blood volume.". Clinical physiology (Oxford, England) 21 (3): 377–82.PMID 11380538.
2. ^ Lohman Eb, 3rd; Petrofsky, JS; Maloney-Hinds, C; Betts-Schwab, H; Thorpe, D (2007). "The effect of whole body vibration on lower extremity skin blood flow in normal subjects.". Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research 13 (2): CR71–6. PMID 17261985.
3. ^ Stewart, JM; Karman, C; Montgomery, LD; McLeod, KJ (2005). "Plantar vibration improves leg fluid flow in perimenopausal women.". American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology 288 (3): R623–9.doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00513.2004. PMID 15472009.
4. ^ Oliveri, DJ; Lynn, K; Hong, CZ (1989). "Increased skin temperature after vibratory stimulation.". American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation / Association of Academic Physiatrists 68 (2): 81–5. PMID 2930643.

4. In the LONG TERM, studies have not show that the WBV is any more effective than conventional training methods to increase STRENGTH. The research time and time again showed insignificant residual power increases. It was noted that the WBV training had to be maintained over a period of time to effect the changes that they did. A one time training session or treatment would not have sufficed. 

1. ^ ^a b c d Delecluse, C; Roelants, M; Verschueren, S (2003). "Strength increase after whole-body vibration compared with resistance training.". Medicine and science in sports and exercise 35 (6): 1033–41.doi:10.1249/01.MSS.0000069752.96438.B0. PMID 12783053.
2. ^ ^a b Delecluse, C; Roelants, M; Diels, R; Koninckx, E; Verschueren, S (2005). "Effects of whole body vibration training on muscle strength and sprint performance in sprint-trained athletes.". International journal of sports medicine26 (8): 662–8. doi:10.1055/s-2004-830381. PMID 16158372.
3. ^ Lamont, Cramer, Gayaud, Acree, Bemben: Effects of different vibration interventions on indices of counter movement vertical jump performance in college aged males, Poster presentation ACSM, 2006
4. ^ Cormie, P; Deane, RS; Triplett, NT; McBride, JM (2006). "Acute effects of whole-body vibration on muscle activity, strength, and power.". Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association 20 (2): 257–61. doi:10.1519/R-17835.1. PMID 16686550.

5. Vibration therapy has been shown to alleviate pain, HOWEVER, this was not WBV. In the study below, it showed that vibration stimulation reported that 70% of patients reported pain alleviation. With this kind of therapy, a few factors were important:

1. Application of therapy had to be on or close to area of injury insult, at the antagonistic muscle or trigger point
2. In most patients suffering from musculoskeletal pain the best pain reducing effect was obtained when the vibratory stimulation was applied with moderate pressure (at which contact was achieved with underlying bone) at a frequency of 50-150 Hz. To obtain a maximal duration of pain relief the stimulation had to be applied for 30-45 minutes.
3. In comparison with high or low frequency TENS, vibratory stimulation was found to be as effective and in some patients even more effective in reducing chronic musculoskeletal or orofacial pain. The effect of 20 Hz, 100 Hz and 200 Hz vibratory stimulation, high frequency TENS, low frequency TENS and "placebo" vibratory stimulation was examined in various chronic musculoskeletal pain syndromes. 82% of the patients experienced a relief of pain with any of the above mentioned methods; 47% of the patients experienced a reduction of pain with vibratory stimulation or TENS stimulation. 

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Well, the jury is still out for the most part. WBV is a nice tool used in the right hands but it is not a panacea by any stretch of the imagination. Like most training methods, WBV has to be applied at the right place, time, and to the right person. Could tri-planar work infused with WBV be highly effective. Sure looks like it will be in the short-term. Do we need it??? Probably not. Looks like you can get the same results without it. Is it a nice toy to have? Sure! Hopefully, it will not become another toy in the corner like oh so many toys become. 

I challenge my colleagues who are using the WBV training to take it beyond the standards and come up with something great that will be long lasting as well as beneficial. Can it be done? Sure as long as they remember that there is a NEURO in the Neuromusculoskeletal system and let science and not fiction guide the process. 

Thoughts?

Best,

Will

Are the gifted athletes simply gifted planners?

I was doing a little research on the brain, and I ran across a really interesting section from "Principles of Neural Science" by Kandel et al. In chapter 33, the authors state:

The nervous system deconstructs complex actions into elemental movements that have highly stereotyped spatial and temporal characteristics. For example, a seeming continous motion of drawing a figure eight actually consists of discrete movement segments that are constant in duration, regardless of their size. These simple spatiotemoporal elements of movement are called MOVEMENT PRIMITIVES or MOVEMENT SCHEMAS. 

Well, that is interesting to me. Basically, they are saying that complex movements are just combinations of simple and basic movements that are constructed for function in the brain and expressed in the body. Okay, well, that wasn't enough so I went on to do a little more research and found interesting information at the University of Southern California's Computational Learning and Motor Control lab. They state that:

Movement coordination requires some form of planning: every degree-of-freedom (DOF) needs to be supplied with appropriate motor commands at every moment in time. The commands must be chosen such that they accomplish the desired task, but also such that they do not violate the abilities of the movement system. Due to the numerous DOFs in complex movement systems and the almost infinite number of possibilities to use the DOFs over time, there exist actually an infinite number of possible movement plans for any given task.This redundancy is advantageous as it allows a movement system to avoid situations where, for instance, the range of motion of DOFs is saturated, or where obstacles need to be circumvented to reach a goal. But, from a learning point of view, it also makes it quite complicated to find good movement plans since the state spaces spanned by all possible plans it extremely large. What is needed to make learning tractable in such high dimensional systems is some form of additional constraints, constraints that reduce the state spaces in a reasonable way without eliminating good solutions.

I posted this on my Facebook page and my good friend and colleague, Andrea W, wrote: So maybe what makes the gifted athletes so gifted is less the ability to move well and more the ability to plan well?

Brilliant, Andrea!

I replied: Andrea, I like that idea!! I think that one leads to another though. Like you said, the ability to plan well may be Step 1 in that process that leads to the "gifted mover". For the gifted athlete, I think by "luck" or something they were able to find the exact combinations of primitive movements that caused a systemic change in their body (neurological, muscular, skeletal, endocrine, etc) that pushed them into that other level. We've said multiple times that form follows function and this would be in that same thought process. We know that the mylineation process is extremely important in building any skill because it creates a "faster more efficient" neural pathways in sensory and motor nerves. I believe because these athletes had the right combination of primitive directives initially, they were able through time and practice reinforce the myelin as well as the supplementary and presupplementary motor areas in the brain to a point where they are perceived, justifiably, as "great athletes". The crazy thing is that working with an inefficient combination of movement primitives leads straight to repetitive strain/stress injuries. 

Great athletes, musicians, dancers, etc may have had the good fortune to fall into those combinations of movement primitives that paved the way to their greatness. This doesn't mean that they didn't hone their skills but it seems that the environment where the "abilities" flourished was there all along.

This leaves hope to many of us who are not "gifted" athletes. I believe that through careful work we can find those combinations of movements that enable us to be an effectively efficient athlete When we find that combination, it's up to us to refine it to the point we are "gifted athletes." 

It can be done.

Thoughts?

-Will

Joint movement in Hatha Yoga

Recently, I have been fortunate enough to be able to sit down and chat with a few yoga teachers and discuss "YOGA". For the civilian, Yoga is just the asana or poses. However, for the truly devoted, Yoga is an 8 limb system of how to live your life that goes WAY beyond the physical poses.

However, since that's what most tend to focus on, I decided to focus a blog post to the asana as Part III to my "More than meets the eye" series.

Chatting with these teachers, I realized that the poses are very elusive to many. They tend to just regurgitate instructions from what their teachers said and so on. Rarely do they take the time to break the poses down and understand them.

However, some do go a bit further and focus on the muscles and stretching the muscles which is fine. It's like Step 2 on the never ending yogic journey. So I wanted to write a short post on looking at the asana with the motions of the joints in mind. Here's the thing: you can focus on muscles but they are JUST reactors to the motions of the bones and joints.  If you don't flex your knee or anteriorly rotate your pelvis, you are not going to get any reaction or stretch out of those tight hamstrings.

As always, we will look at the motions of the joints in 3-D and you'll be shocked to know that the joint has over 2,000 possibilities at any given moment.

Here's the short and sweet about 3-D Joint Physiology:

1) A joint is the location at which two or more bones contact. 

2) Joints are tri-planar meaning that they have movement capability in the three cardinal planes: 

• SAGITAL: Flexion and Extension
• FRONTAL: Right and Left lateral flexion or right and left lateral translation
• TRANSVERSE: Right and Left rotation

THESE MOTIONS ARE ALSO CALLED OSTEOKINEMATICS. 

3) Joints have specific movements within them which are usually small amplitude motions called:

• Roll
• Glide
• Spin

THESE MOTIONS ARE CALLED ARTHROKINEMATICS.

Now, this is the simple side of joint mechanics that can get complex pretty quickly. 

Interestingly, within the Osteokinematics, we find an even deeper process.  At each cardinal planar movement, there are 13 ways to get the motions like sagital planes' flexion and extension. Well, if you know that there are 13 ways to get motion in the sagital plane, you know there are 13 ways to get it in the frontal plane so that's 13x13 which equals 169 joint possibilities. Then we have 13 ways to get motion in the Transverse plane so that's 13x13x13 which equals 2, 169 minus 1 for NO MOTION at the joint and you get 2, 168 ways that a joint can move. 

Q: SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH YOGA???

I will tell you when I first learned that, I was absolutely floored because here I was thinking one-dimensionally when there was a whole other world out there especially for the yoga asana because we have to work with the joints in the poses. Because poses are generally multi-joint rich, we have a formula for a lot going on all at once.

When we look at the asana, it would benefit all involved parties, especially teachers, to look at the asana with knowledge based in anatomy, physiology and biomechanics and use language that is clear and concise not phrases like "Pop your hip" "Your inner ankle is collapsing" "Balance on your sits bones"(I hate the last one the most).

For better or for worse, yoga teachers are movement therapists in many regards, especially when they get into "alignment". Knowing the anatomy only will deepen your skills as teachers. Understanding physiology and simple joint mechanics will allow you to serve your clients and students better as well as being able to speak on a professional level with health care providers like doctors and physical therapists so that you can be part of a team that can facilitate healing of your client.

I am starting to teach a series of "Anatomy of Yoga" workshops to introduce the science of the body to yoga teachers and advanced students. Having an accurate mental map of your body will only serve you.

As always I welcome in questions and comments you may have. I can be reached at will@3doptimalperformance.com


Thanks!

Will

Applied Functional Development: Understanding what the REAL CORE is

This is Part 2 of the "More than meets the eye series". In this blog post we will focus on the CORE. Now, my definition of the CORE is much different from a lot of folks out there. I'll here from a client or patient, "I need to strengthen my core" or "I saw (insert celebrity athlete) doing core work. Can we do that too?"

I smile and then roll my eyes (in my mind, of course). I'd like to propose that when we refer to our CORE we are actually referring to our CENTER OF GRAVITY (COG).

Q: Okay...so what is the center of gravity?


In uniform objects like a solid ball, cylinder or square box, the center of gravity is located in the middle of the object. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, it is in physics, imaginary point in a body of matter where, for convenience in certain calculations, the total weight of the body may be thought to be concentrated. The concept is sometimes useful in designing static structures (e.g., buildings and bridges) or in predicting the behaviour of a moving body when it is acted on by gravity.

If you look at the picture above, you will see a dot in the characters that are different heights. We can say that this is the point where gravity will mostly act on a body in motion. Interestingly, coaches of basketball, football, and lacrosse players have said for years to "Watch your opponents hips!!!" This was done so that the defensive player can predict where the offensive player would be heading. Watching the head and feet are bad ideas because they can move in opposite directions from where the COG moves. WISE WORDS!

Q: Why is the COG in a different place in the cartoons above?


Because humans are non-symmetrical objects that are motion, the COG will not be uniform in them. The woman in the picture is more bottom heavy, so here COG is lower than the male who is very muscular in his torso. Correspondingly, his COG is higher. We see a slouched posture, also displaces the COG.

The coolest thing is that the COG within a person is not a fixed point either. When a person moves their arms or legs, it shifts the COG slightly. When we are carrying a heavy object like weights, a child, a book bag, this will shift our COG accordingly. Luckily for us, we have a very sophisticated nervous system that accounts for the movement of the COG and will redirect the our body so that we are able to keep some semblance of a base of support. This management of the COG's mobility and stability/balance is exclusively under the domain of the CNS which then normally regulates balance so that the person does not simply fall and hurt themselves. We see that the CNS calls all of the other bodily systems into play with particular emphasis on the neuromuscular and skeletal systems.

Q: What does this have to do with movement? 


As we go throughout our lives, we are rarely static creatures. In fact, a principle of function is that Function is DYNAMIC, meaning we are moving from a global body perspective down to the cellular level. Another Principle of Function is that Function is DRIVEN BY FORCES. We see that this principle holds true because GRAVITY is the main physical force acting on a human in motion.

When we base our strategies and techniques for rehabilitation, training and condition and prevention in Principle of Function, we can easily understand and implement successful programs for our clients and patients. In life, we are(should) be dynamically moving in all three planes of motions at all triangulations. With this, GRAVITY (a force) will be acting perpendicularly on the COG, driving it into it's trajectory along with momentum and the additional Ground Reaction Forces (GRF).

When we move, we want it to be in the most efficient manner possible. Running, jumping, sprinting, throwing, flipping, etc is how we manipulate our COG that is coordinated by neuromusculoskeletal system, among other body systems. b

Q: Okay, I understand more of the science, but how do I apply this to my movements?


I have observed many coaches doing "footwork" with their athletes. It's a great idea but let's think about what's behind that? The foot is pretty much a bag of bones and joints" who do not have a mind of their own. The foot is really responding to the movements perceived by the brain with input from the senses, right? So instructing your athlete to move their feet faster may or may not work. When we think in terms of COG, we easily understand the body will respond to the movement of the COG so it will not fall. If our body shifts over to the right suddenly, say if we are ice, the foot, ankle and leg will react to stabilize the body by possibly stepping wider so that the COG remains over a base point (i.e. the foot). The foot just got there, or didn't, but our focus was not to train it. It's the same thing with agility. The movement of our COG is dependent on what we are doing (function) so our body will compensate during our movement patterns.

I am posting a video I did a while ago called the 3-D Jump Matrix. It's a great study of seeing how the COG moves and how the lower extremities react. The reaction of the feet when they are IN-SYNC is the best examples.

Paradigm shift: THINK TOP DOWN INSTEAD OF BOTTOM UP REGARDING SPEED AND AGILITY TRAINING! We've done looking from bottom up way too long. Shift your focus.

If you have any thoughts or comments, please email me at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks!

Will

Applied Functional Athletic Development: More than meets the eye

This week, besides being a holiday week, I have been fortunate to meet two AMAZING martial artists.
Ben, who is a 20 year old collegiate wrestler, is in the Top 3 grapplers as far as moving more naturally and athletically than most. Not only is he a great wrestler, he is also a great coach who INTUITIVELY moves and teaches in all 3 planes of motion.

The second is James, who is a Kung Fu artist/master. From what my client-patient tells me, he's been doing Kung Fu for close to 20 years. He just 'gets it' in terms of the way he moves and the way he instructs. When he was demonstrating as well as teaching, I could see he was FULLY ENGAGED in the movement. There was nothing in his body that was isolated. Kung Fu, by appearance, looks to be a lot of arm movements, blocks and kicks. However, being a biomechanist, I look at what is going on from the bottom of the foot to the top of head and everything in between as well as how internal and external forces are acting on the body.

Q: So why bring this up?


Funny that you should ask that! What I have observed is that when most people see my two friends in their respective activity, they are doing the big movements like the punches, kicks, trips etc without any authentic connection throughout their bodies. It's all arms or legs since that's what the most obvious motion is. I believe naturally gifted movers and athletes, have found ways to not only use their whole body for their activity, they also use their 5 senses in a coordinated fashion to deliver all pertinent information to the Command Center of the Body. When the brain is "fed" information, given no major neurological deficits, it can transform it into the proper movement with ease and a high level of sophistication.

When we see the big movements of the body, we usually miss the smaller and more important movements some of which are not subtle and then others that are unfortunately, not really able to be seen.

I included a picture of an iceberg above because that is what happens in movement. A lot of what we do is totally under the surface and cannot be seen and is generally enormous and complex. It's the finished product that is really at the tip of the iceberg.

Mind, Body and Spirit must be honored for us to reach potential.

Q: What does this have to do with MOVEMENT? 


Well, the short answer is: EVERYTHING!!!

In the next few posts, I will expand on the "More than meets the eye" series. We will cover:

Center of Gravity: What it is and its applications in movement
Joint Motions and possibilities
The Rock & Roll of the Soft Tissues
FiOS of the Body: Brain-Nerve connections

I am very excited to get into this information as it can be so transformational. If you have any questions or requests for anything in particular, please email me at will@3doptimalperformance.com

Thanks!!!

Will

Optimal Performance Quote Series: Coach John Wooden

"You haven't taught until they've learned"- Coach John Wooden

Back to Basics: It can help anyone from the Redskins to you

Once in a while, things come into my life that I really need. It may be one or two things at a time that have the same message but once in a blue moon, MULTIPLE events occur with the same message, and I have no choice but to notice and take action.

The message has been: GET BACK TO BASICS!!!

It's amazing how much I hear this everyday and see it lacking in many people, including myself. Please do not think that I am exempt from this. It is truly something that I have to work with physically, mentally and spiritually every day BUT the good news is that when I put a block in place that is missing, everything gets a little easier and makes A LOT more sense.

I can give multiple examples but the one that really jumped out at me the most was reading an article written about the Washington Redskins after their abysmal loss to the New York Giants. Redskins Linebacker London Fletcher had this to say:

"It's extremely frustrating," Fletcher said. "Same old story week in and week out, we're just not a sound fundamental football team. Poor tackling, probably the worst tackling team I've been around, don't do the fundamental things well: don't catch footballs, don't hold onto the ball, don't tackle well. Those things are things that you need to do on every level in order to win football games."

That's pretty powerful especially when its coming from an elite level athlete on a professional team. Now while this may not be the only issue that is plaguing the Redskins now, it's definitely a major factor.
 
Why is it that we are allowed to go through our lives without the fundamentals that London Fletcher spoke about? I do not believe it is limited to sports as it is easily seen pervading all aspects of our society.

When I started this post, I was going to use the picture of a building blocks but the more and more I thought about it, I felt as the building blocks were too much of a "static" analogy. Building blocks are necessary but I wanted something a little more natural so I choose the image of a tall tree with deep roots. As we know, as trees grow, they must sustain themselves by using their surroundings, above and below ground, for nourishment and stability. Branches reach upward to grab the important solar energy and the roots soak up nutrients from the soil. As the trees get bigger, the roots get deeper. That's what the BASICS are. The deeper when can go with our basics, the more better we will get with our skills.

Unfortunately, most people do not want to acknowledge their lack of the basics. Through various psychological mechanisms, they deceive themselves either subconsciously or consciously tell themselves that "I've got it". In my experience, that's the furthest thing from the truth.

I've been seeing a trend with people where they hit some kind of barrier that I'll call a PIVOT POINT. This pivot point is a point in the experience where a person starts to run into difficulty. Sometimes it's overt and sometimes its very subtle, but it's still there. At the pivot point, there are 3 choices that I have observed (or done). They are:

1) STOP. RESIST. DESIST. Most people will not go any further claiming it's too hard and completely reject this point. There will be plenty of excuses and people, usually other than that person, to blame. It's a knee jerk reaction. However, the sad thing is that it will continue to happen over and over in many aspects of the persons life and they finally get it.

2) MOVE OVER, UNDER OR AROUND THE PIVOT POINT BY DOING THE MINIMUM: This is also a fun one that I people will attempt to find the PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE in the moment.  They may get something accomplished but it will never be to their potential and they will always be left wanting more.

3) ENGAGE WITH SMART AND HARD WORK: This is the most challenging choice and its the road less travelled by many but the results that will follow from the detailed, thoughtful work will surpass their expectations and leave them feeling satisfied. Do not get me wrong. This is a difficult choice that comes with a myriad of experiences, up and down, during the process. However, the process of reaching your potential will be worth it.

Which option do you choose? Can you take a moment to think about a difficult aspect of your life and see what decision you have made for yourself? If you are unhappy and frustrated with something, more than likely, you will have chosen Options 1 or 2. How do you get out of that rut?

GET BACK TO THE BASICS!

As always, I welcome questions and feedback. Contact me at will@3doptimalperformance.com


Thanks,

Will