Reflexive Performance Reset [RPR]

RPR is a simple form of self care that helps you breathe with better quality, move and feel better. RPR wake up drills are a result of thousands of hours of test retest throughout the body to narrow down on specific reflex points to reset the body and prime the central nervous system

By applying RPR wake up drills you will reset neurological firing patterns that have been created by poor movement and which have lead to compensations. Resetting these compensations with RPR will help you increase strength, flexibility, performance, reduce pain, along with allowing the body to relax and stay in a more parasympathetic state for longer (less stress in the body), reduce the chance of non-contact injuries and concussions in contact sports.  

The greatest thing about RPR is you can do it all yourself. No need for any tools/equipment. It can be done anywhere, anytime!

It all comes down to conscious breathing, allowing the body to come out of a sympathetic state (fight or flight) in to a parasympathetic state (rest and digest).

For more on the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous system, check out my previous blog on breathing. Being aware of these systems will help you tremendously with the results you will get from RPR. Most people are in a sympathetic state most of the time. Learn to manipulate these two systems with RPR and breathing!

The Drills

A few common questions I get about the RPR drills are…

• How long does the effect last? My answer to this is, is that the right question? Should the question be am I on, am I ready? Any external force can take you away from being “on”, traffic, work stress, financial stress, etc.

• Am I supposed to feel anything? Yes.. and no. This will vary from person to person. For example, Zone 1 RPR all spots may feel “tender” or just some, or none. You may or may not “feel” anything physically but bringing your awareness to your body as well as how you’re breathing will have an effect on your central nervous system (CNS).

• Why is the origin of “Glutes” at the jaw and the base of the skull? This one is simple. Think about babies. When a baby wants to crawl, what’s the first thing they do before they start moving? They extend their neck up. This is the origin of extension in the spine. As babies watch their parents walking around and begin to soak in how to move extension begins to happen at the hips and the neck becomes neutral. Our modern day lifestyle now has us sitting for longer with necks creeping forward and into extension (necks now becoming our main place of extension in place of our hips/glutes).

The Benefits

For a few years now I have always thought there is a missing link to my training and training I provide to clients. Always looking at muscles and joints, getting good results but finding it being more of a temporary solution for relief. The missing link has been getting the central nervous system into a better state to then allow the muscles to move freely and with less “hold” as the nervous system feels safer and isn’t trying to protect the body by locking down on a muscle or muscles.

Not only am I seeing a good response with training with clients, I am hearing from them about better sleep quality, and a sense of feeling more relaxed or being able to get out of stressful situations easier by either controlled breathing or going through RPR zone 1.

Personally I have noticed my body relax so much more. It always comes down to the Yin and Yang. The amount of weight training I put my body through each week, the amount of tension I build up through each set. A lot of my stress comes from training sessions; this is a good stress on the body but if I can’t flick the switch at will to relax and release tension then it’s just going to keep winding and winding up, so much so that my body would feel heavy and aches and pains would be consistent (with temporary relief from mobility and stability exercises).

I now know that if my body is feeling heavy, I have a tight neck and shoulders and/or pain in my lower back that my go to is to check my breathing, run through RPR zone 1 and explore other zones from there. 8 times out of 10 this gets me back on track. The other 2 I may have to look deeper into my breathing and/or gait pattern – but that topic is for another time