Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the older you get, the more challenging it is learn new things? Sometimes I do feel like you can't teach an old dog new tricks. This, however practical it may seem, is absolutely false. The problem isn't that you can't learn new things as you get older, it's about the SPEED of learning and the amount of time required to learn the new thing.
Not following? Okay, lets see if you can follow me here...
A group of engineers in Fargo want to re-route the Red River far away from the F-M metro area because of the flooding issues. The Red River has been flowing down the same path for centuries...or at least a very long time. In order for the engineers to change the path of the Red River, its going to take countless hours of man power to dig, trench, haul, plow and who knows what else to make that River change its course. Obviously they won't get it done in a week, or even a month. No, to create a change of this magnitude will require many months, if not years.
Are you still with me?
Your brain is a lot like the Red River in that it has pathways, not river pathways but motor pathways, that were developed decades ago and are used by default every time that pathway is needed. Here are some examples: when you put on a pair of pants, which leg goes in first? When you tie your shoes, which loop goes on top? When you wipe your...well, you know what I'm getting at. We all develop skills, that when repeated enough, create a "Red River" like pathway in our brain. When that skill is needed...boom! The pathway is activated and we wipe from front to back.
But wait, the pathway CAN be changed in our brain, just like the Red River path can change. And, it happens the same way...lots of effort, lots of work and lots of time. The fact that your brain has this ability to change and grow and learn is called NEUROPLASTICITY. And, in fact, just like a muscle can be trained to get stronger, your brain can be trained to become more plastic. So if you are messed up and wipe from back to front, YOU CAN CHANGE and LEARN and CREATE new motor pathways to correct this!
Neuroplasticity is why you can learn to do double unders. The age and health of your brain is what determines how long it takes to learn them. Watch a young athlete sometime pick up a rope and attempt double unders. I witnessed one young man ask how to do them, be shown how to do them and then DO them consecutively. That's a young, highly plastic brain! Equally, we've got older athletes working on learning double unders for nearly a year!
The same is true for complex motor patterns like the clean and the snatch. How many years have you been picking things up off the ground? MANY! You have a pathway for that burned into your brain that needs to be retrained. So, just like re-routing the Red River, learning these new, complex movements takes time, repitition and good coaching.
Fortunately for us as CrossFit REPO, we have the BEST coaches around and THE BEST Olympic lifting coach in Bryce Collins. Coming up, Bryce will be offering the Barbell Club training series again. This is your opportunity to get better at the complex movements, to learn and create new motor pathways and get stronger in the Oly lifts. You can't expect to get better and stronger without putting in the time and the effort. The Barbell Club is your opportunity to get coached and get better!
And let's face it...who doesn't want a better Snatch?
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