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Rob Bozada

@riggest1

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🧠Human Performance Optimization
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MI Aug 2027
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Physics of Catching a Falling Load vs Traditional Lifting:

☄️When an athlete catches a falling load, they’re exposed to a rapidly increasing force due to gravitational acceleration and momentum. Unlike a slow, controlled tempo lift (which maintains relatively constant tension), a falling object increases in velocity as it drops…meaning:

Force = mass × acceleration
 So, even if the load’s mass is the same, the net force at impact is higher due to increased acceleration (Newton’s Second Law).

⚡️This creates a high eccentric impulse, which taxes the tendon-muscle unit, requiring rapid force absorption and joint stabilization; demands not typically present in standard resistance work.

⬇️⬆️Catching a falling load also introduces high jerk (the rate of change of acceleration) which increases the mechanical demand on tissue and the precision of neuromuscular control. The body must respond to a sudden spike in load velocity, enhancing the CNS’s ability to coordinate fast, high-force reactions. This is especially important in explosive sport tasks.

🧠Catching loads requires reflexive neural control, improving:

* Rate of force development (RFD)
* Motor unit recruitment speed
* Proprioceptive sensitivity

This type of reactive training trains the stretch-shortening cycle, enhancing neural drive and dynamic stability; relevant to athletic tasks like sprinting, jumping or cutting.

📝Supporting Research:

-Suchomel et al. (2016) noted that eccentric overload improves RFD and high-threshold motor unit recruitment.

-Wilson et al. (1991) found that high-velocity eccentric training enhances power output and neuromuscular adaptations.

-Cormie et al. (2010) emphasized the importance of eccentric-specific neural adaptation for athletic performance.

-Mizrahi & Susak (1982) linked high-jerk movements to increased neural responsiveness and motor control demands in biomechanics.

🔥Comment or DM “program” to learn more about implementing this type of work. Programs also available via link in bio.

This is not where one should begin their training. I’m happy to provide more insight if you’re curious. by @riggest1

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2 years ago

🧬Tissue-level differences between long-duration isometrics vs. high-velocity movements:

⏳Long-duration isometrics (tendon remodeling and collagen synthesis)

Primary target: tendons and extracellular matrix (ECM).

Mechanotransduction: Long isometrics (30-60 seconds or more) apply sustained tension to the tendon, which signals fibroblasts to increase collagen synthesis and improve the tendon’s structural integrity.

Stress Shielding Prevention: Sustained loading ensures that collagen fibers throughout the tendon (both superficial and deeper layers) experience even strain, preventing some fibers from overworking while others go unused; a process known as avoiding stress shielding.

Tissue Response: Increased collagen turnover, enhanced tendon stiffness and improved tissue health; essential for injury prevention and force transmission.

-Baar, K. (2017). Minimizing injury and maximizing return to play: Lessons from engineered ligaments. Sports Medicine, 47(5), 891-903. 
⚡️High-velocity movements (tendon stiffness and reflexive elasticity)

Primary target: neuromuscular system and tendon stiffness.

Mechanotransduction: Rapid, high-velocity loading (like plyometrics) causes high strain rates across the tendon, emphasizing tendon stiffness and the ability to store and release elastic energy quickly.

Tissue Response: The tendon adapts to become stiffer and more reactive, enhancing performance in sprinting, jumping and cutting, however this is less effective for collagen synthesis and overall tendon remodeling compared to isometrics.

-Kjaer, M. (2004). Role of extracellular matrix in adaptation of tendon and skeletal muscle to mechanical loading. Physiological Reviews, 84(2), 649-698.

*As always, this is a very concise explanation; there are many ways to apply these concepts and principles in training.

*DM or comment “PROGRAM” to get some examples of how I do so. Programs also available via link in bio.

*Continued in comments… by @riggest1

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2 years ago

Oscillatory training is a method involving rapid, smaller-range movements around a joint’s position to enhance neuromuscular efficiency and athletic performance. This type of training promotes the ability to generate force quickly and efficiently by accelerating the relaxation of antagonistic muscles (therefore maximizing rate of force development).

The concept of oscillatory training has its origins in the work of Dr. Mel Siff (as well as Verkhoshansky and Yessis) particularly within the book Supertraining, where he introduced the Antagonistic Facilitation Method (AFM). This method focuses on improving the rate of force development by facilitating the relaxation of opposing muscle groups. Cal Dietz expanded upon Siff’s principles, integrating oscillatory movements into his Triphasic Training system to enhance athletic performance.

I often speak of oscillatories as one of the means to train the physics concept of jerk. This is something profound that I’m unaware of any other coaches expanding upon. In physics, jerk refers to the rate of change of acceleration with respect to time. In oscillatory training, athletes repeatedly accelerate and decelerate as they oscillate between different movement phases. These rapid changes in acceleration correspond to high jerk values, reflecting the dynamic nature of oscillatory movements and the quick rate at which athletes transition between movement extremes. To me, this is where oscillatories have yet another great benefit: injury prevention and increasing tissue robustness.

Not many scenarios in the gym can be/are executed at “game speed” or with all relevant constraints present. Oscillatories help us fill some very vital gaps within the performance spectrum; these move us closer to the crucial dynamics involved in live action.

DM or comment “OSC” for programming.

Audio from podcast with Cal Dietz

#strength #flexibility #mobility #power #agility #speed #muscle #stretch #movement #core #workout #fitness #calisthenics #fitnessmotivation #crossfit #yoga #olympicweightlifting #gymnastics #bodybuilding #aesthetics #powerlifting #physique #nike #niketraining @niketraining @proteanutritionmen @triphasic_training by @riggest1

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2 years ago

🦶🏼Ground contact is where all force begins and ends, and the big toe is the last point of contact in push-off. It matters at three levels.

⚙️Mechanical: When the big toe is extended, it tightens the plantar fascia and stiffens the arch. This windlass mechanism turns the foot into a rigid lever at toe-off. The spring-like behavior of late stance is attributed to it. A foot that can’t stiffen leaks force before it reaches the ground.

🧠Neural: Contracting hard in one place tends to recruit more activation elsewhere. Physiologists call this irradiation (see Sherrington’s Law of Irradiation), and it’s why clenching your fists can make a unilateral press/lift feel stronger. Driving the big toe hard into the floor is a deliberate way to flood the system with that effect, while the sole’s sensory receptors report firm ground contact to the nervous system.
A study in elite female handball players found that engaging the windlass with hallux wedges altered foot muscle activity during squats. Toe position changes what the muscles do in a strength task.

♻️Systems: A stiff, anchored foot gives the ankle, knee and hip a stable base to push from. Dynamic systems theory reminds us that only when component parts of the system produce a stably coupled whole, does the system perform most efficiently and effectively. Whether you’re sprinting or benching, the system performs better when it starts from a solid foundation.

🎯Try it: Notice in the bench press clips in this reel how my toes briefly raise as I bring the bar down and then press into the floor as I press it away. There is a very noticeable increase in output when I do this- I’ve even seen it boost pull ups and other movements, too. During your next training session- drive the big toe into the floor (or even just into your shoe if you’re hanging) as you perform a concentric contraction and notice what changes.

🗣️Cal Dietz

🔥Comment or DM “program” to optimize your training and performance! by @riggest1

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14 hours ago

🧠Your brain won’t allow maximal force production through a foot it doesn’t trust.

🦶All force production has to pass through the only part of you touching the ground, and the nervous system knows it.

🚨Neurologically speaking, the brain won’t permit maximal forces to be exerted through regions of the body that haven’t proven they can handle it (or are injured/compromised in some manner). The physiology backs this up. The nervous system limits output when a structure can’t tolerate load, a protective inhibition that coaches like Verkhoshansky described decades ago. After joint injury, muscle activation is measurably suppressed (arthrogenic muscle inhibition), which shows how directly the CNS regulates output based on joint integrity.

⚡️Your feet matter for two reasons:

✅They’re the foundation. The intrinsic foot muscles are the main local stabilizers of the foot, part of a “foot core” with active and neural components. During push-off, the arch recoils alongside the plantar fascia, building tension and stiffening the foot. A foot that can’t stiffen and recoil can’t transmit force efficiently.

✅They’re the sensors. The sole is packed with mechanoreceptors reporting ground contact to the nervous system, the data your brain uses to decide how much force is safe to send without being a threat to survival (or impending injury). Again, the brain and nervous system’s number one objective is to survive; anything that may threaten that causes a cascade of processes that attempt to mitigate the threat.

🎯Yet, these muscles are often neglected in assessment and training, leaving a key part of foot stability unaddressed. Build the foundation first. Strong, stable, responsive feet let the rest of the system turn up the dial.

🗣️Cal Dietz

🚀DM or comment “PROGRAM” to get a customized approach to your performance programming! by @riggest1

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5 days ago

Walking through a sky full of color 🎈✨

My first time at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and it was magical- on a whole new level.
Great food options, collecting cards from the crew of each balloon, fireworks and the drone show!

How it started: On April 8, 1972, thousands of spectators watched 13 hot air balloons launch from the Coronado Center mall in Albuquerque. It was a rally for the 50th anniversary of a local radio station, organized by pilot Sid Cutter. The next year it became an international event when Albuquerque hosted the first World Hot-Air Balloon Championships. Today it's the largest balloon convention in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of guests and more than 600 balloons from around the globe.

What to see:
🌅 Mass Ascension: Hundreds of balloons launch in two waves, led by a balloon flying the American flag to the tune of the national anthem.

🐄 Special Shapes Rodeo: Balloons shaped like cows, bees, soda cans, and animals, a family favorite.

🌙 Balloon Glows: Balloons light their burners at the same time at twilight, turning the field into a sea of lanterns.

🌍 Flight of the Nations: Pilots from each nation launch one at a time to their national anthem, waving their flag.

🎈 America's Challenge: Gas balloons compete to fly the furthest distance from Albuquerque.
It's also called the most photographed event on earth, and after walking the field with my family, I understand why. Standing among thousands of people, all looking up at the same moment, felt rare. Fiesta runs through the first full week of October, so put it on your list. 🎈 by @riggest1

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9 days ago

🚨Your nervous system sets the ceiling. Your training decides whether that ceiling rises, remains the same or falls.

🦺Everything your nervous system does; every muscle contraction, every range of motion it permits, every force it allows you to express- runs through a single prior question: is this safe?

⚡️This is Bayesian inference at the level of motor output. Your brain holds a prior belief about every movement, every position, every load. That prior is built from experience. If the experience of landing from height, pressing from a disadvantaged position or moving through an unfamiliar range has never been provided, the nervous system doesn’t permit full expression there. Not because the tissue can’t handle it. Because the threat model hasn’t been updated.

🧠The brain’s number one objective is to survive. Therefore, your output ceiling is set by your absorption capacity. This is why much of my training focuses on collision management and why athletes can increase their bench press by incrementally practicing higher drops to the floor on their hands. Why end-range strength work unlocks range that years of stretching never could. Why isometric loading in positions the nervous system guards rewires the threat response to those positions over time. The tissue wasn’t the limiting factor. The model was.

😳Traditional training almost entirely ignores this. It loads the positions the nervous system already permits and wonders why the ceiling doesn’t move.

🔥The actual work is proving to the nervous system, incrementally and progressively, with evidence it cannot argue with- that a given scenario is not a threat. That you can produce force there. That you can absorb what you can express.

🎯We can only produce what we can absorb. Train the absorption and the output follows.

🗣️Dan Fichter

🧨Prepare and progress toward your next level of performance with my Elite Athleticism and Aesthetics Program! This is a comprehensive 8 week training process with videos that prepares your nervous system for violent peaking during the last two weeks!

🫡Comment or DM “PROGRAM” to get your elite programming for 25% off, for the next 24 hours ONLY! by @riggest1

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13 days ago

😳If you’ve never lost the weight before catching it, you’ve never actually trained a vital dynamic of reactivity.

🧨Fast tempo training, banded work, quick (yet still controlled) eccentrics- all useful, but they share one thing: constant contact. The nervous system never loses the load signal. This is what’s often regarded as a reflexive eccentric.

⚡️Reactive catches are a different stimulus entirely. Release the implement into true free-fall, then violently reposition to catch it before it hits the ground. For that split second, there’s zero external feedback- then a sudden, high-velocity re-engagement under real consequence.

🧠That gap changes everything. True free-fall into a sudden catch produces a jerk signature (rate of force change/acceleration)- most continuous-contact training never touches. Muscle spindles respond more to how fast you’re stretched than how much, meaning this method maximally stresses the reflexive nervous system, not just raw strength. Your brain has to pre-program the catch (feedforward) and correct in real time once contact hits (feedback)- simultaneously, under urgency.

🔥There’s a resonance effect, too- muscle and tendon behave like a tuned spring, learning to absorb and return force more efficiently with exposure. And the unpredictability itself may sharpen the nervous system rather than degrade it- a documented effect known as stochastic resonance.

🎯Controlled, predictable training develops athleticism under controlled, predictable conditions. Sport is chaos and split-second execution. If your training never includes the moment the implement is gone and you have to violently get it back- you’re not training the system that wins.

🗣️Dan Fichter

🚀DM or comment “PROGRAM” to get 30% off of my custom programming! This includes a phone call and programming created specifically for you! In addition, I’m offering 50% off my Reactive Catch Guide to those that purchase the custom programming! by @riggest1

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16 days ago

🪂The physics behind “drop and catch” training

🫳Shroeder’s “drop-and-catch” or reactive catch method isn’t just training folklore- it’s backed by basic physics (the work-energy theorem):

⚡️Effective Force = Weight × (Drop Height ÷ Catch Distance)
Drop a 3 lb dumbbell 2 feet and catch it with 2 inches of absorption? That impact load spikes to 36 lbs before you reverse it back up. Tighten that catch to just 1 inch, and the same 3 lb weight now hits 72 lbs of force. Cut your absorption distance in half, double the load- you’re compressing that same energy delivery into roughly half the time, which means the slope of the force-time curve steepens sharply, not just its peak.

🧠This is huge for athletes: it lets you train high load, high velocity AND high volume simultaneously- something traditional heavy lifting can’t do at once (heavy weight usually means slower reps and lower volume). By manipulating drop height and absorption distance with a light implement, you spike eccentric force way beyond the actual weight on the dumbbell, while still moving fast and racking up reps.

🎯That combination is exactly what drives explosive power, tendon stiffness and rate-of-force-development adaptations; the stuff that transfers to sprinting, jumping and change of direction.

🗣️Dan Fichter

🚀Comment or DM “program” to get my educational Reactive Catch Guide for 25% off- which provides further info, progression/sets/reps, set up demonstrations and examples of positions you may train in this way. by @riggest1

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a month ago

⚡️Why how you catch the weight matters more than the weight itself

🎯Most training programs are built around slower, voluntary, “controlled” reps- but sport rarely happens that way. Sprinting, cutting, tackling, landing: these all demand split-second reflexive stability, not conscious muscle control. That gap is exactly what drop/catch training targets.

🧠Two systems are doing the work:
* Muscle spindles detect how fast a muscle is being stretched and trigger a rapid reflexive contraction to resist it; the faster the stretch, the stronger the reflex.
* Golgi tendon organs (GTOs) monitor tension and help regulate how much force the muscle allows before dumping tension to protect the joint.

🧨But it’s not just reflex- there’s a feedforward component too: the nervous system pre-activates muscles before impact, based on anticipated load, priming stiffness for the catch. Research on subjects catching falling loads with the arm found muscle activity beginning well before impact, with a reflexive burst kicking in only 20-30ms after contact; proof the body pre-programs for impact, then reflexively fine-tunes on contact.

🧬That’s the real training effect of the drop-catch: you’re rehearsing the feedforward-feedback handoff: anticipate, absorb, redirect- under real (even lighter) load. Lower the weight, sharpen the intent, and you’re training the nervous system’s timing, not just the muscle’s strength.

🗣️Dan Fichter

🔥DM or comment “program” to get discounts on 4 of my programs; 1 of them is reduced to $4 and another is only $1!!! by @riggest1

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a month ago

🌎Your nervous system has been calibrated to 9.8 m/s² since before you were born.

🧠The vestibular system is one of the first sensory organs to develop in utero; detecting gravitational force months before birth. By the time you take your first breath, your brain already has a deeply embedded reference model for gravity.

💥From a predictive coding perspective, the brain is running a continuous internal model of expected sensory input based on known constants; 9.8 m/s² being the most constant input it has ever received. When movement is initiated, the motor command is shaped by the expectation of how gravity will contribute to or resist that movement. This information feeds directly into the vestibulospinal tract, modulating postural tone and motor output throughout the entire body. This is not a conscious calculation. It is a deeply embedded prior in the Bayesian inference model the nervous system runs at every moment.

🚀Here is what changes when you exceed it:
For example- when you drop off a box with bands pulling you down faster than gravity, your tissues are loaded eccentrically at a velocity the nervous system has no prior for (see Bayesian brain model). The muscle spindle fires beyond its gravitational calibration. Titin (the elastic protein within the sarcomere itself) is pre-loaded at a rate that standard plyometrics cannot replicate. The key is the release. The supragravity load accelerates the eccentric. Removing it at contact means the concentric SSC is uninhibited.

⚡️Train within gravity your whole career and you are training within a ceiling your nervous system set before you were born. Exceed it, and you are training a quality that has no other access point.

🗣️Dan Fichter

📚My Skool community launches Monday- we will cover concepts like this throughout the year!

🏆Comment or DM “PROGRAM” to update your calibrations and perform beyond your current limits with my Elite Athleticism and Aesthetics Program! by @riggest1

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5 months ago

🚫Passive stretching doesn’t make you more mobile. It temporarily down-regulates protection from the nervous system.

🧠Here’s what’s actually happening: two sensors are running the show. The muscle spindle sits inside the muscle and detects how fast and how far it’s being lengthened; trip it, and your body fires a reflex to stop the stretch before it goes further. The Golgi tendon organ sits where muscle meets tendon and detects tension; hold that tension long enough, and it inhibits the muscle to force relaxation.

📉Passive stretching exploits both mechanisms rather than training them. It dulls the spindle’s alarm threshold and uses GTO inhibition to manufacture a “release.” Range of motion goes up. Force capacity at that range goes down. You didn’t gain mobility, you gained a temporarily numbed nervous system.

⚡️Isometrics do the opposite. A brief, maximal-intent hold outruns the inhibition, keeps the spindle calibrated and forces the nervous system to produce force at a range it used to guard. You’re not accessing the range. You’re training ownership of it.

🚀There’s a second layer: hold an isometric long enough and your strongest, most efficient fibers fatigue first. As they drop out, the load shifts onto weaker, less-trained fibers and tissues (the ones ballistic, fast-twitch-dominant movements almost never reach). Duration becomes its own recruitment tool.

🗣️Keith Baar

🔥All programs are 25% off! Comment “program” to begin implementing this training. Join my Skool community to dive deeper into concepts like this by commenting “codex”. by @riggest1

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2 months ago