Bone Rhythm is a core concept taught in Z Health and I’ve found it to be one of the single most important teaching tools I have when it comes to getting people moving. The idea is very simple, that each bone is a rigid structure and because of that, when one end moves, the other must move. Now, the question of how the other end moves is what matters here. When the two ends of the bone move correctly relative to each other, you have smooth, effortless movement.

1. You’re lazy Think about your daily movement patterns. How much variety is there? If you drive to work to sit at a desk and then relax by coming home and watching TV, you’re living your life essentially seated in front of a screen. You need to change up the patterns: stand, run, twist, bend and move, not just your body but your eyes and head too.
2. You eat crap

In the previous post in this series, we looked at how adhering to a particular rhythm, in that case running at 180bpm, can trigger the natural spring in the body and give you insight into “stuck spots” in your body that won’t move at the right pace. Now we want to explore the practice of changing rhythm deliberately as part of your movement practice. The value for sports or martial arts, where the ability to change speeds gives you a competitive advantage, should be pretty obvious.

It has been clear to me from years of Tai Chi practice that finding the right rhythm in a movement “unlocks” the body. When I stumbled on to this video though, I was fascinated to see a similar theory being discussed in running.

In the clip, he says that this particular rhythm, 180 beats per minute, helps you “tap into the body’s elastic mechanism.” After I watched the clip (the other ones in the series are great, by the way), I turned my metronome up to 180 bpm and hit the road.

Introducing a new series: “Rhythm as Relaxation”. Across many different practices, which I’ll go into one at a time, rhythm is a common thread. When you find the right rhythm in the practice, it gets easier, smoother, more connected, and as a result, more relaxing to perform and more energizing at the same time. Some of the practices I will explore in the series: Running Tai Chi Breathing Five Element Theory

I find this topic so interesting. When you start playing with the way eyes influence movement, you begin to unlock connections in the body that you had no other way of accessing. I’ve seen some pretty strange stuff, from pain pretty much vanishing, big muscles magically unlocking, or people being able to run, jump, or lift in dramatically different ways….all from a couple of eye exercises. I know it sounds weird, and I was right there with you until I experienced it in my own practice and taught it to other.

I care just as much about “how you practice” as “what you practice”. At a certain point, you should be paying attention to both equally. For your own practice, I think Dr. Cobb sums it up nicely here, where he describes the delicate balance between putting your head down and working hard and sitting back to reflect on your hard work. When you think about crafting a training experience for a student or client, you need to think about how you can, in the words of Dr.

Work hard, right at the edge of your abilities, fast enough to make mistakes, but slow enough to notice and correct them. Do it often. Do it with the deliberate intention of making every training session and every rep better. Do this by focusing not on outcomes such as winning or losing but rather on small chunks of skill that can be developed on an ongoing basis.

-Dr. Eric Cobb, founder of Z Health