The melting ice in the arctic is linked with earthquakes and tsunamis across the globe. Real-estate meltdowns centered in California cause downturns in Asian stock markets. Over-consumption of sardines in North America and Europe place South African penguins on endangered lists. We are increasingly seeing that as our world becomes smaller and smaller through better communication, ease of transportation and exposure to new products that increases their demand faster than supply can meet it. Despite this, many still lose sight of the fact that things are just as, if not more connected in the human body. Physiological processes do not act in isolation. Digestive, endocrine, energy, muscular, skeletal, respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems are all connected. Studies of science do not act in isolation. Nutrition, biomechanics, physiology, motor control and learning are all connected. Because of this, it’s foolish to think you can or should JUST develop one physical capacity or quality (acceleration, vertical jump, squat strength, etc) without having some type of impact on other qualities. In some cases, these ripple effects may be positive. In others, they might be negative. The trick is understanding the ‘freakonomics‘ of the human body and performance capacities and assessing the net outcome in shifts in focus of training.
