When aerial gymnasts perform incredible tricks in the circus under the dome, when a musician plays masterfully a complex musical piece, when a ballerina skillfully as a porcelain doll twists pirouettes, there is a thought flashing through the head: "How have they learnt this? And can any person do the same? "The answer lies in constant training, as they say, repetition is the mother of learning.
I propose to consider the process of training and mastering a new skill from the point of view of science, so to speak, look inside the organism and understand what is happening and how. The theme of training for me is always critical, and therefore there was an interest to make it loud and simple.
First let me start with biological processes. The brain consists of two types of nerve tissue — gray and white matters. For the processing of information, direction of signals and sensory stimuli to the nerve cells, gray matter is responsible. White matter, basically, consists of fat and nerve fibers. In order to carry out any movement of the body, gray matter of the brain must transmit information to the muscles via nerve fibers (axons) through the spinal cord. As a result, the body raises an arm or lowers the leg (you can choose any). If the same movement is repeated many-many times, then in the nerve fibers changes start taking place.
Nerve fibers of white matter are covered with myelin (fatty substance), and it changes its structure in the case of frequent repetition of certain body movements. To imagine what myelin is, it is better to compare it with the insulating material on electrical cables: it facilitates the flow of energy without losses through channels and quickly moves electrical signals along the neural pathways. Recent studies have shown that training increases the number of layers of the myelin sheath. And logically it follows from this that the more layers, the better axon chains are isolated, as if forming a more reliable "route" for the passage of signals to the muscles.
Many people argue that there is such a thing as muscle memory. In fact, this is not so. Most likely, success of the execution of some movements is affected by the multilayered myelin.
Also there is a theory about a certain number of days, months or years for mastering a certain skill. Scientists can not yet confirm such assumptions, because the result is affected not only by the physical repetition of movements. An important place is taken by the quality of training and its effectiveness, which, in turn, depends on the concentration, intensity, goal set and the ability to accept the fact of mistakes and failures.
To make training more effective, scientists give several tips. It makes absolutely no difference in which area a person desires to succeed, since the below recommendations are universal.
- Concentrate on a certain small task.
- Minimize distractions such as television and telephone. One study on 260 students showed that with enabled gadgets, they could focus no more than 6 minutes in a row.
- Run movements first at a slow pace, and then gradually accelerating.
- Follow high frequency of classes, and not their tedious long duration. It is better to practice several times a day than once for several hours.
- Visualize the skill when it is already achieved. In this regard, studies have been conducted that the imagination increases the effectiveness of performance of the skill. Thus, 144 basketball players were divided into two groups: the participants of one group physically practiced a three-point throw, while the basketball players of the second group imagined it only mentally. Two weeks later, the players of the second group, who had a level above the average, showed the same results as the players of the first one.
So, good luck to every of you in new endeavors or continuation of the existing ones!
Resource 1
All the pictures are original.