There are many situations where life depends on the speed of reaction. A reaction is the body’s response to any stimulus, after which an immediate action occurs to interact with this stimulus (threat). To put it simply, exercises that develop reactions have the ultimate goal of teaching the brain to control the body automatically. This requires exercise and a certain psychological preparation. This will be discussed in more detail in the article.
What is a reaction
First, you need to briefly define what is meant by this concept and what reaction speed is. A reaction is a kind of mechanical action caused by a stimulus in a certain way in an automatic mode. There are three types of main stimuli: sound, visual, tactile. A person is designed this way: he reacts to different signals at different speeds.
Reaction speed is the time interval between the appearance of a signal and the response to it. It largely depends on heredity, the structure of the nervous system, age, gender and other factors. An equally important condition is the person’s awareness of the specific situation in which he has to act. After all, tennis, hand-to-hand combat, e-sports or driving are different areas of human activity. And only then ask yourself how to develop a good reaction in a particular area. However, there are a number of general exercises and recommendations that can improve attentiveness, composure, overall coordination and brain-body interaction, as well as other important characteristics. They will not only help answer the question of how to develop a reaction and improve your well-being, but will also simply help you to lift your spirits.
Why is it important to respond quickly to changes?
In everyday life and at work it is necessary to quickly respond to any changes
, to any external stimuli:
- Take the initiative into your own hands;
- Talk and think at the same time;
- Try to adapt to changing conditions;
- Take on any opportunity that seems promising.
The fair sex, in this regard, is somewhat ahead of men. Women are socially adapted and cope better with any changes, trying to integrate themselves into the changed picture of the world.
It's great to try to change the world, but the effort isn't always worth the results. Sometimes it’s easier to come to terms with the current state of affairs and try to “grab” what’s yours during any changes. By successfully getting involved a couple of times, you can get rid of many problems for the rest of your days, but again, this is not given to everyone.
Working with the ball
This is the most basic level, designed to improve overall coordination of movements. For such activities, you only need a small ball, convenient for grasping with your hand, as well as regularity in performance.
When approaching the wall, you need to hit it with the ball and catch it with the same hand that was used to throw. You need to start with a strong hand (leading). This monotonous exercise lasts 10-15 minutes.
Then they do the same thing, but only with the other hand.
The next task becomes more complicated and at the same time more interesting. Throwing is done with the right hand, and catching the sword with the left.
Jumping rope
Let's move on to talking about exercises to develop dexterity, flexibility and coordination. One of the best solutions to achieve your goal is jumping rope. First, take a vertical stance, placing your feet together. They hop on the right and left legs, alternating limbs. After completing a series of exercises, they begin to cross the rope with their hands in front of them after one revolution.
Training promotes the development of coordination in the hand-foot-eye system. Improves sense of time and level of endurance. The rhythm of movements is honed.
A partner is half the success
All people love to play. This is a great opportunity to hone your skills, as interaction in games is based on the principles of competition. Among other things, giving yourself various mental commands and then executing them is a tedious and ineffective task. It's another matter when a companion does it. His actions are difficult to predict. And he will do everything possible to make them different by surprise. Therefore, when the question arises: “How to develop a reaction using the help of another person?”, gaming activity, like no other, is best suited for these purposes. It provides a wide range of stakeholders and different strategies: from the banal “rock-paper-scissors” to throwing a ball at each other.
It is worth dwelling on a number of clear, effective recommendations when answering the question of how to develop a reaction at home. It should be understood that training your own body must be carried out taking into account the prevalence of a certain stimulus, for example tactile, and a specific area of activity. Thus, exercises that develop a tennis player will do little to help a boxer, and all because of the different packets of commands that are embedded in the subconscious during long hard training.
There is another important factor. Few people take it into account, even fewer people work on it, and, as practice shows, it is in vain. We are talking about the body operating on “autopilot” under stress.
Agility in sports and fitness
Agility is a complex motor quality. It integrates precision and speed of movement, reaction speed, sense of balance, flexibility, and coordination. Moreover, it is not so important to learn to achieve the maximum values of these qualities as to be able to demonstrate them in doses. In other words, to successfully solve a motor task, you need to be able to develop a movement of the required amplitude, direction and strength at each specific moment in time. It is important to learn to accurately coordinate your movements, quickly and in a timely manner to move from one movement to another. These abilities are based on the well-functioning functioning of the nervous system and muscles.
Although agility is considered an innate quality, this does not mean that it cannot be trained. When a person develops reaction speed or coordination of movements, he thereby improves dexterity. Dexterity directly depends on experience. The more varied speed and reaction exercises a person performs, the richer his motor experience becomes, and the more accurately he can predict the development of events. His reaction to external stimuli becomes very fast. A dexterous person is able to react with lightning speed to a change in the situation - sometimes even before this change has occurred.
The influence of ancient instincts on reaction speed
A number of researchers have proven in their works that one of the main emotional and behavioral reactions that directly affects even perfectly honed skills in a stressful situation is fear. This instinct was acquired by man in the process of long evolution. It is divided into two types: agitation and stupor.
Agitation is a common physical escape. One of the strategies that a person uses when faced with a real or imaginary threat. This classification of threats was also not chosen by chance. There are situations of real danger when only running can save a life, and there are imaginary ones (the likelihood of losing your status, reputation, etc.).
The state of stupor, or, as it is also aptly called, “internal flight”, is a completely different defense mechanism. A person does not run anywhere, but his body does not obey the “internal” biocomputer. An equally ancient instinct and method of survival, inherited from our distant ancestors. According to scientists, the ability to pretend to be dead or freeze in place made it possible to survive an encounter with a powerful predator.
Is it possible to do something about this and how to develop a quick reaction that will allow you to act in extreme situations? To do this, you need to consider some exercises for different types of stimuli. Because only working through all the material in a comprehensive manner will allow you to achieve good results in the shortest possible time.
What does agility depend on?
As already noted, agility is partly given from birth, but it is quite possible to develop this quality through training. To achieve a positive result, you need to quickly assess the situation at any moment, understand your capabilities and use them one hundred percent. Dexterity, flexibility, strength are integral components of human physical fitness. To feel confident, you should conduct proper, effective training to improve your qualities.
As for dexterity, one cannot help but recall the volitional factor. The ability to deal with difficult situations plays a very significant role. But the most important thing is the ability to move the body in space at maximum speed. It is this factor that largely determines agility.
The importance of strengthening auditory response skills
How to develop reaction and speed if the main stimulus is a certain sound signal (whistle, clap, scream, and so on). To achieve success in searching for an answer to this question, it is important to remember: the movement being fixed must carry a certain semantic load. It must contain the end result. Dull movement of objects is unacceptable. It is necessary to hone some specific, vital skill. For example, quickly snatching a weapon from a holster or a gas canister from a pocket. Exactly from your pocket, because the sad experience of many victims of various robberies and rapes confirms the truth: an item that can save a life should be on hand, and not in your purse.
How to Assess Current Coordination Development
Before starting classes, it is worth assessing the current level of development of hand-eye coordination using a simple balance test.
- Stand on one leg, bend the other and lift it higher, but so that it is comfortable. After standing for a minute, repeat the test on the other leg.
How easy was it to keep your balance? Which leg is easier to stand on? As a rule, over the course of a lifetime it is possible to develop better one or another leg.
Perform this test with your eyes closed. The goal is to maintain balance on each leg for 30 seconds. If the test fails, exercises are needed to develop motor coordination.
What is important to remember when practicing a skill
How to develop agility and reaction in the shortest possible time? The first thing you need to pay attention to is developing useful skills in a complex of various irritating factors. This includes working on sound, touch or visual detection of trouble.
Relying on just one hand is not an option. Therefore, there will be painstaking work involving both limbs. Ideally, achieving a result when the speed and competence of the required set of movements will not depend on the hand. Movements should also be as simple as possible. It is their simplicity that is the key to success. The body itself performs the movement that is most appropriate in the current situation, relying on muscle memory.
Particular attention must be paid to various conditions (lighting, space, etc.). You cannot expect that, if you need to use a skill, the conditions will be “greenhouse”. As a rule, the opposite is true. They will be unfavorable and dangerous. Only self-control and coherence will allow you to achieve success. Therefore, learning to apply the best practices in any lighting, surrounding space, taking into account the influence of other distracting factors is not a whim, but a forced necessity aimed at results.
General exercises for developing agility
- Somersault forward over the head with a preliminary jump on arms bent at the elbows. Having mastered the exercise, you can do up to 10 somersaults in a row.
- Somersault back over the head with a fall on the arm bent at the elbow.
- The same somersaults as in exercise. 1, 2, but to the sides.
- Falling backwards and getting up quickly.
- Fall forward and get up quickly.
- Gymnastic “wheel” left and right.
- Headstand, initially with support against the wall.
- Handstand.
- Walking on your hands.
- Jumping on a trampoline with a turn of 180-360° with a fall on the back, on the knees, on the stomach, with turns of 180 and 360°, somersaults forward and back. After landing, stand up immediately. You can complicate the exercise: at the highest point of the jump, the player catches the ball and passes the ball.
- A gymnastic throw bridge is installed on the free throw line. The player runs up and, pushing off, throws the ball into the ring from above. A more complex version of the exercise: during the run, the player dribbles the ball and throws with a turn.
- Throwing around the ring with the ball rotating around the body (1 or 2 times) during two steps.
Agility can be trained using elements of other sports - for example, water skiing or diving from a 1-3-5 meter tower: soldier, head down, doing a somersault. Walking on a gymnastic beam, on a rail, on a bench while rotating the ball around the body, with feints to the side, forward, is great for developing coordination, and therefore dexterity.
Sound work
As the name suggests, the conversation will focus on how to train a reaction in conditions where the main stimulus will be a certain signal. Variations can be different, but realistic (screaming, imitation of stamping feet). The more realistic the training is, the better. Loading the necessary set of psychological commands into the unconscious sphere will reduce the likelihood that a person will be seized by panic at the most inopportune moment.
Any person can act as an instructor/trainer in this situation. The main thing is to maintain the effect of surprise. At his signal, you need to get a gas canister as quickly as possible and be ready to use it.
It will also be useful to learn how to intercept some object faster from the table or on the floor (there are many options) than your opponent will do.
Scientific and technological revolution
Over the past hundred years, people have managed to:
- Change from horses to cars;
- Conquer the sky;
- Rise even higher and reach space;
- Move from telegraphs to radio, television and the Internet;
- Find and develop more drugs than in its entire previous history;
- Explore the Moon and launch hundreds of artificial satellites.
On the one hand, everything happened gradually and over many decades. But if you look back, evaluate the pace and compare the 20th century with any previous century, you will find too many changes for such a short period, from a historical point of view.
Our century promises to be even more intense than the previous century. Only a small part of it has passed, but changes are already noticeable.
Unfortunately, revolutionary changes are not planned in the near future for the following reasons:
- Distant galaxies will remain distant;
- Humanity will not invent a time machine;
- No one will detect the aliens;
- There will be no alternative energy sources.
In any case, this opinion is being formed now. Perhaps the inhabitants of the 19th century thought about the next century in much the same way. Well, what else could be new?
Exercises for touch
The importance of these basic skills is that contact has already occurred in a situation where the person has no visual control of the space behind them. This exercise will develop your personal safety skills.
Its meaning is that as soon as the partner makes an unexpected touch from behind to any point of the body, the student must give an adequate response with lightning speed. There are several options. One of them, perhaps the most reasonable one, is to jump to the side. The second is to turn towards the conditional attacker already in a fighting stance. You will have to turn around anyway - this will allow you to establish visual control. Another question is with what set of “homemade” preparations this will happen. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not recommend starting interaction immediately with self-mutilation. Therefore, you should be wise in choosing the development of the required skill.
The most effective sports games for reaction
Speed and energy help us achieve success, both in business and in sports. Reaction training games will also help you develop this ability. The most effective, as we have already said, are tennis games. If you don't have time to go to the gym or don't have a partner, then just hit a tennis ball off the wall. To enhance the effect of training, you can hit the ball off a soft surface; in this case, you use not only reaction speed, but also physical strength.
Reaction training can be carried out using the following sports games:
- regular or futsal;
- volleyball;
- basketball;
- floor press with clap;
- boxing with a partner;
- Ping pong;
- badminton.
Children's games are also suitable, for example, dodgeball, snowballs or any other games with moving objects. This type of game trains a person to quickly analyze circumstances and make the right decision.
How to develop visual reaction and speed
Games familiar from childhood are perfect here. For example, “rock-paper-scissors” or “even-odd”. There is no need to explain the rules of the rock and scissors game. I have known this game since childhood, especially because of the indescribable feeling in case of loss. The only reservation and amendment is in the conduct of the event itself. In a regular yard game, all participants throw out their “pieces” at the same time, and when training a reaction, the instructor needs to give the student some head start in time to make the right decision.
But what “even – odd” is is worth explaining. Here the roles are distributed: there is a leader and a follower. The presenter’s task is to throw out any arbitrary number of fingers. For example, two is an even number. The follower, in turn, must roll any odd number on his fingers.
How to check
To find out the reaction time to stimuli, it is necessary to calculate the time difference between the onset of the action and the response. There are even special devices for this. Various websites have special tests to determine reaction speed.
Important! Tests must be taken in a healthy and alert state. For the purity of the experiment, it is better to use a mouse, since the delay is longer on touch screens. It is also recommended to take the test with one hand and then with the other.
Reaction time to different stimuli varies slightly, but on average it is 0.1–0.3 seconds. It can also vary significantly from person to person.
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