by Joel Robles
What is Reflexive Performance Reset exactly? According to its founders, RPR is a method of breathing and tactile inputs (called “wake up drills”) that empower individuals to improve their overall wellness and performance. The wake up drills target the nervous system, which controls everything in the body. As a system, RPR is the key to accessing the powers of the nervous system. At first glance, Reflexive Performance Reset can sound overly complex and difficult to understand. The truth is it’s pretty straightforward and very easy to comprehend - you just have to feel it.
Isaias receiving his Teacher of the Year award.
Three track coaches, three RPR Level 2 coaches!
As an assistant Track and Cross-Country coach going on four years now, I was first taught RPR by my head coach, Isaias Ramirez, who had attended both Level 1 and Level 2. The following year, after teaching our athletes and staff, he encouraged us to get the full experience and helped the entire coaching staff to attend both Level 1 and Level 2 so we could elevate the team to the next level. Implementing the system into our program and having our athletes buy-in has worked wonders and definitely moved the team forward in a very positive direction. At first, the change was difficult for the team including staff because, with so much going on, it seemed complicated to teach our athletes something new. What I learned over time is that it was all so simple and uncomplicated. The key was belly breathing and Zone 1.
The simplicity of RPR starts with looking at the body as a system where, on a foundation of proper breathing, all movement is generated from the center outward. In their words, it goes breathing, zone 1, zone 2, and zone 3. Zone 1 is made up of diaphragm, psoas, and glutes. Zone 2 includes the quads, hamstrings, abs, and hips. Zone 3 are at the outside - calves, neck, shoulders, etc.
When we start with breathing, RPR means something very specific. Obviously everybody breathes, but RPR focuses on diaphragmatic breath. For simplicity’s sake, we call it a belly breath. Belly breathing brings numerous positive effects to the body such as stabilizing blood flow, improving heart rate and blood pressure. Proper breathing helps improve digestion and lung function as well as stabilizes the autonomic nervous system allowing us to enter into a more parasympathetic state.
Belly breathing allows resets to hold longer and also maximizes psoas function. Proper psoas function opens up performance capacity through the rest of our body. Once proper breathing is established, it’s time to move onto the second pillar of RPR: Zone 1.
To reiterate, Zone 1 is the diaphragm, psoas, and glutes. These three together are the foundation for optimal movement. Think of it from a survival standpoint - the only things we need to do are breathe and run away from predators. You can’t get away from a predator without your hips moving. So when Zone 1 is in its best place, the whole body will work better. However, compensations in Zone 1 (for instance, if the psoas isn’t working to its capacity, the quads and abs will work together to take over its job) cause the body to enter a protective state that limit performance. In this example, if the quads and abs are taking over for the psoas, they’re forced to do two jobs - the quad is in charge of both hip flexion (psoas) and knee extension (the quad’s normal job). In a protective state, the body will prioritize the hip over the knee and your athlete will be prone to injury. Zone 1 is where performance begins and needs to be your focus.
When we first learned RPR, it was easy for us to think about the more intricate parts of the system. We’d focus on the movement patterns and try to “cure” them. To put it simply - we thought because something was more advanced, we thought it was more important. When I attended Level Two, JL put a lot of effort into changing that mindset. From the get go he emphasized breathing and Zone One. We worked on breathing for the better part of an hour and a half as JL explained the simplicity of both, always stating if all else fails, go back to Zone 1. It was amazing to experience how much change occurred with belly breathing. Each reset whether it was for neck driving or arm driving started with belly breathing and Zone 1. Goal always being to have the psoas fire first above all else. Sure enough, after belly breathing and the Zone 1 wake up drills, the psoas would fire correctly.
This has been my second year implementing RPR with the team and we have had tremendous success with it. The big emphasis for us has been belly breaths and wake up drills before any type of warm up or speed drill. The coaching staff constantly checks to make sure athletes are primed and firing correctly. Normally, we perform a combo of an drop arm and standing psoas test. Lying down, we test the hip flexion pattern (testing if psoas, quad, tibia, jaw, or arm are firing first - aiming to get the psoas to be the primary trigger). Both our long runs and interval workouts have improved considerably through our ability to correct firing patterns on the spot.
Since implementing RPR into the program, injuries have been drastically reduced while performance has steadily risen. The drop in injuries has been the biggest highlight; at the midpoint of the cross-country season we would normally have a handful of athletes complain about shin splints and tight IT bands. Compare that to this year, where we have yet to have an athlete show any signs of shin splints (knock on wood).
Aches, pains, and tightness have definitely popped up but we constantly refer them back to belly breaths and Zone 1, which usually alleviates those symptoms. The greatest part is that is that it’s so easy that it can be implemented anywhere at anytime whether it be on the sidelines of the court or field, in the gym, in the locker room, at home and even on the side of the road during a run or bike ride. Like Coach JL constantly repeated at the clinic, “Go back to your 1.”