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Reactive Training Explained

Reactive Training Explained

We all want to get the most out of time spent exercising-maximizing the results and hopefully enjoying the process. One of the most beneficial and overlooked aspects of training by both professionals and fitness enthusiasts is reactive training.

Reactive training, by its nature teaches the body to respond to both predictable and unpredictable demands on our body. As a result, we are more engaged physically and mentally during the workout, keeping things fresh and delivering on results. It applies to athletes at all levels, fitness buffs and seniors…anyone who wants their body to respond for performance or injury prevention on the field or around the house.

To better understand what reactive training is and how it benefits us, it is helpful to use the computer metaphor. Our muscles and other soft tissue and bones/joints are the body’s hardware, and the nervous system is the software. Just like a computer, our hardware cannot do anything without the software that assesses the situation and signals the program to run.

The computer metaphor applies with something as predictable as a static plank or as complex as single leg hopping in a star pattern. The difference in these two examples applies to both the software (neurological requirements) and hardware (muscles and joint stability).

With a plank, once you get into position, the software has one program to run and the muscles need only maintain a fixed position. Static exercises equate to lower mental engagement and eventual boredom.

Conversely, with single leg hopping the program being run is different on every repetition because of how and where we land. Mental engagement is much higher as you focus on landing on the target and pushing in the proper direction of the next target in the star pattern. The hardware (the joints) must be stable in multiple positions and angles and the other hardware (muscles and tendons) has be to produce and control forces up, down and with many different angles.

Think of “programs” as a catalog of movements your body can access when needed. If we don’t give the software problems to solve, that catalog is very small. If we expose our software and hardware to many situations, the software gets better at solving the problems and the hardware gets more efficient at responding and spreading or dissipating stress throughout the body. No more overuse injuries.

All this added engagement both physically and mentally has an energy cost=burning more calories, a great thing for a workout! It also means the muscles are challenged in new and different ways, leading to gains without beating the body up by constantly repeating the same movement patterns.

How Do I Get Started with Reactive Training?

We designed the Core-Tex RT to create a dynamic environment that gives you the benefits of reactive training automatically with each rep of every exercise. Think of it as “plug and play” for your exercise goals. Take whatever you do on the ground and make it reactive with Core-Tex!

Core-Tex RT: The Optimal Reactive Training Environment

The Core-Tex RT combines razor sharp reaction, metabolic demand, dynamic strength, balance and flexibility into ONE design, creating the optimal training environment. From multi-directional mobility exercises to the most advanced reactive explosive strength, the Core-Tex RT will appeal to everyone.

 

The Core-Tex RT is the only piece of equipment that will allow you to challenge the body front to back, side to side and with rotation - all at the same time. This challenges the muscles in new ways giving the body a better overall workout.

 

The body reacts and responds for an amazing workout that is always engaging and never the same. The Core-Tex RT was specifically designed to provide a multi-dimensional reactive training challenge.

 

It is the ONLY product on market that tilts, translates, and rotates in an unrestricted 360 degrees, which means that the combination of these three movements allows for an almost infinite number of combinations of movements. The 30" diameter platform is large enough to accommodate various user positions that include standing, sitting, kneeling, quadruped (plus hands-on-floor option), supine or combined with a ground based limb. 

The Core-Tex RT comes with a single or dual handrail configuration in either Core-Tex Red or the all new sleek Black Edition. Not sure which to choose? Click here to find out!

Which Model Is Right For You?

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Adding the principles of movement variability to quadruped progressions using Core-Tex is an effective and efficient way to produce benefits you won't get from the ground. The quadruped position on Core-Tex introduces a dynamic environment for core and spinal stabilization that produces reactive muscle activity and associated variability. This means your muscles are training to turn on faster to protect your spine when needed.
We are thrilled to receive this feedback from Hands of Hope Physical Therapy and Wellness.  Beginning in 2023, Hands of Hope began utilizing Core-Tex in 10 of their clinics in the greater New York metropolitan area.  
We take 3 "known" exercises and show you how much more exponential value you get from doing them on Core-Tex. The patented motion provides movement opportunities that can not be reproduced on the ground or any other product.