INTRODUCTION TO THE APP
Our bodies are perpetually under the influence of acceleration due to gravity, and we maneuver by altering how this acceleration acts on our mass. By examining the acceleration data, especially the rate at which acceleration changes—known as Jerk—we can identify specific characteristics of our movement patterns.
Utilizing feedback that highlights the Jerk associated with various movements can be highly beneficial in enhancing our movement abilities. Improving these abilities is crucial for bolstering our resilience and our body’s ability to recover and regenerate. With consistent practice, you’ll find that you naturally begin to move in a way that minimizes jarring forces and reduces the stress on your body’s structural components.
INSTALLING THE APP
If you have not already done so, you can download the app from the Apple App Store here:
SPRIKE GAIT TRAINING IPHONE APP URL
USING THE APP
The basic instructions for use are embedded within the app.
Begin by playing with the app in a longish room where you can walk in a straight line for 6-15 paces. Use soft footwear or bare feet. Once you have the feedback dialed in you will get information on subtle variations in your gait patterns at the speed at which you are moving. Work to move in ways that improve your score at the same speed. It is quite an intense exercise – for the whole body. Please be cautious.
You will soon find that your normal gait patterns are becoming more dynamic and that you can access a broader scope in your movement potentials – moving in new ways that exhibit greater competency and better-integrated energy dynamics – you further train the reflexes driving your gait automaticities. Activating this reflex potential diffuses additional energy/information throughout your nervous system, developing and strengthening synaptic connections. It can be quite a challenging exercise!
Once you have established the foundation of walking on a flat surface you can apply it in other settings like on the beach or hiking on a trail. You will discover that many of the common footwear options inhibit/restrict gait potentials and that you will be inclined to Paleo Footwear, Flip-Flops, or, if possible, bare feet.
If you would like in-depth training with this tool, please get in touch with me to schedule an in-person or Zoom appointment. I have been working with this feedback for several years. I am still learning new attributes of my gait potential, and experiencing the continuing energetic activation of subtleties in my reflexes.
DISCUSSION OF SPRIKE
The lessening of Jerk within an action is considered here using a coined term, Sprike – a portmanteau of springiness and strike. Sprike is simply the inverse of Jerk – the less Jerk within any action, the more Sprike (Jerk is the rate of change of acceleration). These lower frequency stresses. while moving, support our regenerative/healing potentials, and facilitate extending our adaptive capacities.
Expansion of this discussion is taken on in the posts listed below:
List of Related Posts:
- Sprike: A Discussion of the Framework
- A Comprehensive Description of Gait
- Walk Like an Animal
- Reference Frames for Stance and Gait
- Kinsegrity: Kinetic Tensegrity
- The Foot – Function from Structure
- OutSole – A Functionally Supportive Insole for Shoes
Other Associated Posts:
- Shoeless
- Mechanotransduction of Fibroblasts and Osteoblasts
- Crystalline Nature of Fascia
- Misperception of the Gravitational Effect
- Crosswalk Signal Letter
In the app, Sprike is calculated by dividing Jerk by 100 (Sprike = 100/Jerk)
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
The Sprike iPhone app is not a finished product. It is better considered as a basic “proof of concept” demonstrator establishing the efficacy of this feedback for gait training. It is envisioned that it evolves into age-appropriate games for children and adults and into a professional gait training tool to assist in Movement and Manual Therapies. These evolutions will likely necessitate investments in product development and a marketing strategy. If you are interested in these opportunities I would enjoy discussing this further (there is no protected IP).
SUPPORT THE WORK
If you are using the app on an ongoing basis, a donation or subscription will help to support the continuing development of the tool:
SUPPORT THE WORK