The Ralph Cornwell Files...Sometimes Redundancy Can Be Good
Sometimes Redundancy can be good...Sometimes Redundancy can be good.... Sometimes Redundancy can be good
Ralph Cornwell is a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion/human performance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to pursuing his Doctoral Degree he was a collegiate strength coach.
He is currently developing a protocol for strength training the musculature that protects the cervical spine.
A friend of mine is a licensed pilot so he flies all over the United States. I do take commercial flights when I have to, but I’m still a little uncomfortable about being 10,000 feet above the ground. My friend Chris (the pilot) tells me there are so many redundancies built into an airplane the chance of something going wrong is very small.
If one system fails there is always a back up. But he did add the back-ups must be just as effective as the original piece of equipment or the original electronic device built into the airplane in order to stay in the air.
It’s funny sometimes when you learn something new you don’t realize the impact of it until later. Last week an Anatomist at a local university uttered those same words with regards to the human head and neck segment. He said, the head and neck have built in redundancies to protect this vital and complex area.
He went on to say that the muscles usually work in groups of three such as the suboccipital triangle that help to flex and extend the head.
They are backed up by the powerful longus capitis and the semispinalis capitis and the splenius capitis. This group is there when the neck and head need to extend.
The neck is a complex structure that works in groups to move in many different directions. I then asked the Anatomist: Why so many redundancies for the head and neck? He said, through evolution the body as whole knows in order to survive, the brain must be protected. That’s why we have so many safe guards.
My last question was this. If you going to participate in an activity or sport that might injure the brain what would you do? The answer was simple: make sure all your redundancies and back-up systems are as strong as thee original pieces so you can stay flying around on the field.
Be redundant and train the muscles of the head and neck to Get Strong.
http://swarfworks.com/rogersathletic/