I first came across Z-Health Performance Solutions at the IDEA Fitness Fusion Convention expo in Chicago, back in April. There, I was lucky enough to win a 6-hour DVD “Z-Health: Essentials of Elite Performance”, putting together the principles of Z-Health's 3 levels of certification: R-Phase, I-Phase and the S-Phase.
Z-Health is developed by Dr. Eric Cobb . Normally, it's through injury rehabilitation that many people first come in contact with Z-Health, although it's a system designed to “re-build your body”, by improving athleticism and skill in general (“everyone is an athlete, everything is a skill”).
Basically, Z-Health emphasis on the nervous system (rather than the mechanical musculoskeletal system) as the underlaying and main system controlling everything in the body and what it's capable of and therefore deciding performance, strength and movement (“muscles are slaves to the nerves”). With this said, it's important to understand that the mind-body connection is a two way communication, the brain tells the rest of the body how to act and react but all those directives are based on the constant feedback it receives from the muscles/nervous system (proprioception).
The first DVD (of 3) and level, the R-Phase, begins by explaining what proprioception is and how it works. Proprioception is a term that consists of following sensors (nerves); mechanoreceptors, nociceptors, chemoreceptors, thermoreceptors, baroreceptors. These five nerve receptors detects sensory input on the body from movement, pain, chemicals, temperature and pressure and from that information creates a “3-D map” - called proprioception. This “map” is ongoing and constantly changing and its clearness determines how well your body feels, moves and reacts through space and time.
Most of the nerves detecting movement (mechanoreceptors) resides in the joints. Therefore, if joints are immobile, nerve signals are compressed resulting in a decrease in nerve transmission that effects map clarity and therefore limits performance (movement and strength). In most cases, the older you get, the less you move and the more immobile you get. This causes a negative spiral and same thing here, areas in the body that are not moving effectively or where nerve signals are interrupted creates a fuzzy map, causing pain, incoordination, poor performance and muscle weakness.
Early on, watching the DVD, Dr. Cobb (creator of Z-Health) shows some really interesting, hands-on examples of how poor joint mobility and proprioception plays a major part in force production. But what's really cool is how he demonstrates drills that improve map clarity (joint mobility/proprioception) and instantly improves strength (performance). That's what I, among many others, think is the greatest strength of Z-Health; the potential to see instant improvements. Click here to see and hear what I'm talking about (at least, don't miss to watch from 1:18 and onward...)
The R-Phase is the foundation of the full 3 level course, Z-Health program. They call it neural re-education, with simple drills to mobilize joints, often showing instant results in strength and muscle function, developed to teach the individual to make good choices and how to self-improve map clarity (proprioception - body awareness, movement, strength and function). The R-Phase also demonstrates how the source of pain and injury can be far from the actual site of pain, e.g. shoulder pain can disappear after joint mobilization drills in the ankle. Therefore, rehabilitating the shoulder is treating the symptom rather than the cause and isn't the appropriate solution, in this case.
Now, even though all this makes sense and has been proved to work, Z-Health is not a simple program (but nor is the body, so that makes sense). To truly understand Z-Health, apply it correctly without getting confused, maintain a full perspective and avoid stepping in to the area of alternative healing methods, is a risk – in my opinion.
Next, I will review the second level of Z-Health, the I-Phase. This expands on the R-Phase (the first phase that's reviewed above) and develops the use and understanding of the program from the basics.
I'm also working on putting together a post on running technique and pros and cons of the POSE method of running. It's a process to collect facts and there are plenty of opinions out there on the subject. I'll try my best to stay objective – check back soon!
/Henrik
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