⭑ It's time to counter-steer your exercise - see item #1.
⭑ Training your brain as important as your muscles - here's why - item #2.
⭑ How integrating brain and body sharpens your reflexes - item #3.
⭑ Cause and effect - the living proof - item #4.

All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Hello,

I trust you are well and active.

I'm devoting today's newsletter to an idea, perhaps a profound truth, that should change the way you think and do your training for the rest of your life.
​
By pure chance this week I clicked on Lawrence Johnson's Youtube "Outdated Sprint Training That Is Slowing You Down". My ears popped when he said that "training is fundamentally neurological, not just physical". I paused the video and sat down for a moment to process what he had said.

You've probably read my semi-regular admonishments about gym machines, i.e. that you only use them for two reasons: (1) rehabilitation, or (2) to get the last 1% strength or bulk if you are a competitive powerlifter or bodybuilder.

If you are under 35, do whatever - look good in a t-shirt. If you are over 50, and can stand on your own two feet, then gym machines are your training option of last resort.
​
Johnson's video reinforces that training isn't just about moving muscles; it's about teaching your brain how to move them effectively [00:00, 01:40].

His proposition that "every sloppy rep you take... is teaching your body to run slower" [04:07] directly supports my point that gym machines teach your brain that it's not connected to your feet, ankles, knees, buttocks, lower back, neck, head. You'll be more likely to fall, sprain your back, twist your neck, have sore knees, sprain your ankle than than if you had been doing functional exercises.

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01 Why You Need to Counter-steer Your Training

What if everything you thought about getting stronger, faster, and healthier after 50 was actually slowing you down?

Imagine you're on a motorcycle, cruising through the city. To turn left, you gently lean left and steer left. Simple.

But a MotoGP rider, tearing around a track at blistering speeds, does the exact opposite. To make a sharp left turn, they actually steer right – a technique called counter-steering. If they didn't, the sheer centrifugal force would send them flying off the track. They do the opposite of what feels intuitive to achieve peak performance and safety in order to maintain their "speed fitness" through the corner.

This isn't just about motorcycles; it's a profound metaphor for how we need to approach our health and fitness as we age.

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02 The Under-35 Cruise vs The Over-50 High-Performance Corner

OK, it’s a quirky headline, but when you're under 35, your body is incredibly forgiving.

Like that slow city ride, you can often "steer" your fitness any way you like – hitting the gym for isolated leg curls, long steady cardio, or simply pushing heavy weights – and you'll likely see results. Your metabolism is revving, your nervous system is sharp, and you're building physical capacity almost no matter what you do. It's focused on pure physicality.

But something shifts around 35, and it accelerates after 50. Your metabolism begins to decline, and crucially, your nervous system's responsiveness begins to change. Continuing with the "slow turn" methods of isolated, repetitive exercises, like those leg curls in the gym [02:30], isn't just inefficient; it's like trying to navigate a high-speed corner by turning the wrong way.

As Johnson explains, your physical training isn't just building muscles; it's training your brain how to deploy those muscles.

So, if you spend all your time sitting on a machine doing leg curls, you're training your brain to be excellent at... sitting on a machine and doing leg curls. This does very little to prepare your brain and body for the unexpected, like catching yourself when you trip getting out of the car, or maintaining balance on an uneven path.

⇒ It's not training for real-world function and agility.​​​​

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03 The Shift: From Physicality to Neurological Mastery

Just like the MotoGP rider who must understand and master counter-steering to perform at their best, we need to reverse their thinking about exercise. The focus must shift from simply moving muscles to challenging and stimulating your nervous system.

We need to emphasize:

• Quality of Movement over Quantity of Reps: Every movement should be purposeful, building strong neural pathways [04:07].
• Functional Training: Exercises that mimic real-life movements, improving balance, coordination, and reaction time.
• Brain-Body Connection: Integrating movements that require coordination, stability, and quick decision-making.

This isn't about giving up on strength or endurance; it's about elevating it. It's about training your brain to command your body with precision and power, ensuring that your physical capacity translates into real-world resilience, healthspan, and longevity.

​//

04 Does It Work? Cause and Effect? ​​​​​​​​​​​​

Yes. Johnson is correct. I've been thinking about this, and practicing it, for over 25 years. Gym machines were not invented for fitness. They were invented for gym owners - to make clients look good in a t-shirt without having to employ expensive personal trainers.

Cause

When you do a simple, isolated exercise like a bicep curl, you activate a very specific and well-worn pathway in your brain. It's like driving down the same straight road every day.

Functional training, however, forces your brain to navigate a complex new route. An exercise like a lunge with a torso twist requires your brain to coordinate balance, leg strength, and core rotation all at once. This complex demand is the cause—it challenges the existing neural pathways and signals to the brain that it needs to build a better, more efficient network.

Effect

In response, the brain physically adapts. This is the effect. Through neuroplasticity, it strengthens the connections between the neurons responsible for that complex movement. The "map" for that action becomes more detailed and the signals travel faster.

Think of it like the difference between a blurry, old map and a high-resolution GPS. The functional training provides the data that allows your brain to upgrade its internal map, leading to smoother, quicker, and more stable real-world movements.

A leg press builds raw strength, but getting up from the floor without your hands builds neuromuscular coordination. Your brain has to solve a complex balance and stability puzzle in real time, strengthening the exact neural maps you need to prevent a fall.

⇒ Remap your brain and avoid the pain!

It's time to shift from old workouts to smart training that extends your healthspan.

Thanks for reading!

>> My Latest Blog Post: Energise Your Golden Years: Boosting Your Desire to Exercise with Gut-Healthy Foods​

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