Bob Dylan once said, “Chaos is a friend of mine.”
How does a Bob Dylan quote, Newtonian Physics and Chaos Theory relate to Athletic Training and Rehab?
Let’s take a moment to break down each of them first:
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. One of his famous quotes was “chaos is a friend of mine.” That’s really his only connection in this blog post. If you haven’t listened to him, I highly recommend it.
Newtonian Physics/Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton is widely regarded as the greatest scientific genius of all time. His law of gravity and laws of motion formed the content of modern science and influence much of our world view today. His theories placed a firm physical and mathematical basis for the Copernican worldview of heliocentricity based off the divergent works of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. However, it was Newton who united all the aforementioned theories into one coherent whole, setting the stage for the scientific revolution.
Without diving too far into his work, his discoveries established the following:
- The Law of Gravity
- The Laws of Motion
- Established the Cause-and-Effect relationship.
He postulated that the cause-and-effect relationship was the basic defining principle of the universe. His work states that the universe is considered to be ordered and all phenomena are defined by clear, logical mathematical laws. His work is the basis of modern science as we know it and is the prevailing way of thought still to this day.
Chaos Theory
Chaos theory is a branch of mathematics that studies the dynamical systems whose apparently random states of disorder and irregularities are actually governed by underlying patterns and deterministic laws that are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Athletic Training/Rehab - Linear Periodization
Much of today’s work with athletes is rooted in linear periodization. Although there are plenty of coaches out there who use less antiquated methodologies, linear periodization is the prevailing general model of training that is taught in institutions and training seminars. Linear periodization is a gradual form of progression in training. Linear periodization basically breaks training into 1–4-week blocks emphasizing different qualities each block: hypertrophy, strength, speed etc. It’s very “structured and organized” system.
How is All of This Connected:
The laws of Newtonian Physics are still to this day, the prevailing thought pattern in our world structure today. There is a cause and there is an effect. And while I’m not here to argue that, the laws of Newtonian Physics make it clear that there is a specific order to everything in our universe, and that would include training (linear periodization). That is until Chaos Theory entered the picture…
In very recent times, physicists looked inside the atom and to their astonishment they found two distinct things: first, a natural order; second: a totally unanticipated chaos and uncertainty.
This was a revolutionary finding. So much so that it could be in the conversation with the findings of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. The discovery of the “chaos” led scientists to develop the “uncertainty principle,” in an effort to work with and express these ideas mathematically. The uncertainty principle was coupled with the science of quantum mechanics (Newtonian) and chaos theory. This discovery led to a new three-level view of reality and the universe not seen since the days of Aristotle. The Three layers are as follows:
- First layer: that which can be described by Newtonian Physics. Everything has an order. A cause and effect.
- Second layer: the area of relative uncertainty (aka determined chaos). It is this level that all the phenomena of life exists.
- Third layer: consists of all objects and phenomena that are best described by chaos theory.
Within this new three-layered viewpoint, it is believed that life cannot exist either in rigid form (Newtonian view) or in utter chaos (chaos view). Life can only exist within defined limits, between strict rules of structure and complete chaos. It is this reasoning that proves why challenges/chaos (either determined or not) help you grow as a person. You experience the chaos (stress), and your body adapts accordingly. Without a certain amount of stress/chaos, an organism cannot survive. If there is too much stress, the organism will die; this was proved by Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome.
It is through this viewpoint that the laws of physics apply to athletes’ training/rehab particularly in the sense of linear periodization. Linear periodization is a Newtonian based training philosophy with the premise that progress is achieved through established and orderly means; strict order and structure. Develop A, then develop B, etc. Chaos theory proves that relying solely on linear periodization is an antiquated model.
On the other end, athletes cannot progress through complete and utter chaos. This is why if you consistently throw new exercises at someone every day, without allowing the body time to adapt, there will be no adaption. With no adaptation, there is no improvement. This process will lead to little or no development in the areas of absolute strength and absolute speed, which are critical qualities for athletes. Additionally, it will eventually lead to the breakdown of the body as it reaches Selye’s third state of stress response, the exhaustion state. The exhaustion state is where a continual state of stress occurs, and the body can no longer produce the extra chemicals and energy needed for further resistance, eventually leading to complete shutdown. Selye proved that if this continued eventually the organism would die. If progress isn’t based solely on layer one, or layer three, then layer two is all we’re left with; Relative Uncertainty (determined chaos). The layer where all phenomena of life exists.
Structure can be a positive thing, but adaptation occurs through chaos. The beauty of training is that we can provide structured chaos. So, what we preach with our coaches is: lets lay out a plan of attack for our athletes/clients (Newtonian), but if halfway through either the plan or even a workout changes, that is not necessarily a bad thing (I probably do this to a fault). As long as we’re accomplishing our primary objective in each realm of training, then we love to introduce new types of stimulus that can still help us accomplish our training objectives.
So, in conclusion, there is a balance between the laws of physics and a time and place for everything. The recent discovery of chaos theory, when applied appropriately can lead to excellent results for athletes. Similarly, a basic linear periodization model can lead to excellent results for new athletes. So, what about elite athletes? I’ll let you think about that one.
Ps – if you haven’t listened to Bob Dylan, you should.