fbpx

The FitLight Trainer: Our Unbiased Review

FitLight Trainer is a unique tool that’s aimed to improve your mind/body connection. While many athletes focus on building muscle and endurance, the FitLight system is all about strengthening your brain.

It’s a neurocognitive training tool that’s designed to improve a range of performance parameters. The company advertises the system as quite flexible, since they want it to be a training option for any sport.

At its core, the FitLight Trainer is simple. The main components are lighted discs that can be placed anywhere. While they look simple at face value, these discs are hiding some interesting technology.

Each disc has two rings of LED lights. They act as a visual stimulant. Proximity sensors and impact sensors are built into the lights as well. These sensors measure response times and physical feedback.

One of the benefits of FitLight is that it’s fairly customizable.

The lights alone are versatile enough to place anywhere. With a couple of accessories, you can mount them vertically on walls, stick them to the ceiling, or even tack them on poles.

Alternatively, you can simply place them on the ground. The waterproof design gives you some additional flexibility for your training location as well.

On top of placement flexibility, the lights are adjustable to provide the feedback you’re after.

For example, you can set the lights to record a response when you provide physical feedback. When you want to up the ante and make things harder, you can set the system to pick up responses on the inner ring or outer ring of lights only.

Visual and audible feedback is possible, too. Adjust light brightness levels to work for your environment. You can also set the lights to beep whenever a response is recorded.

The Tablet

While the lights of the FitLight Trainer will play an important role in your training routine, a separate tablet will act as the brains of the operation. The lights communicate wirelessly with tablets. Whether you’re training alone or working with a coach, you can complete training programs up to 50 meters away from the control tablet.

The tablet is how you’ll have control over how the FitLight Trainer operates. You can control light modes, create custom programs, and other functions. It’s also where you can see your results after you complete your training program.

The data provided is fairly detailed (but could be better). The tablet app provides high-level information to show you areas where you can improve. Both you and your coach can use this data to modify training regimes to make sure you’re getting more out of your workout.

What Benefits Is This Product Supposed To Provide?

The concept behind FitLight Trainer is simple. At the start of a program, the lights flash in a random pattern. Your job is to respond to those visual stimulations with an action.

What you have to do to trigger a response depends entirely on how you choose to set the system up. You can use touch-based triggers to tap the lights. Or, you can use the built-in proximity sensors to wave your hand or run past the lights.

Either way, the FitLight system is easy enough for athletes of any age to adopt. So, what kinds of benefits can you take from this unique form of training?

According to the developers of FitLight Trainer, the system can help enhance your cognitive response.

No matter what sport you play, your brain is working overtime to help you succeed. Say, for example, that you’re on a football field. You’re constantly keeping your eye on the ball while also staying aware of what other players around you are doing.

In a split second, you must identify openings, figure out what you’re going to do, and tell your body to move! It might seem simple enough, but that chain of events takes time.

Your body and brain have to process a lot of information in a fraction of a second. First, you must use your senses to figure out a course of action. Let’s say that you see the football flying in your direction.

Your eyes are picking up that visual stimulant, which then sends signals to your brain. After figuring out your next course of action, your brain has to send electrical impulses to your legs and arms to take action. This happens very quickly, but it’s possible to make the process occur even faster.

Improving your response time can help you see drastic improvements in your sports performance.

Neurocognitive training is said to make that happen. Even simple training programs with FitLight may help to speed up that synaptic response. You can use the system as a simple mind game to strengthen your response times.

For a simple training routine, you can place the lights on a wall in front of you. Tap each light as it flashes. With each flash of light, you’re training your brain to react as quickly as possible.

It sounds like a cakewalk, right? Chances are, your response times will be much slower than you think. Responding to these kinds of stimuli is brand-new. Thus, your brain has to work a bit harder to make your response happen.

Over time, you can build up those neural pathways. This is said to help those electrical impulses from your brain move faster. The more you train, the better your response times will be.

After you have mastered that training program, you can apply your skills to a real-world setting. For example, your coach can set up drills using the FitLight Trainer system to simulate movements on the field. This could be simple drills to improve your footwork or complex maneuvers that span the entire field.

Whatever the case may be, the FitLight system may be an option to help you see improvements in various aspects of your performance. The main benefit that you might see is better visual cognitive processing functions.

This means your mind would identify those openings faster and help you make important game-changing decisions on the fly. This might improve your overall response times and make you a more effective athlete overall.

In addition to better cognitive functions, you may experience better coordination.

Again, it all comes down to those neural pathways between your brain and your body. When people stumble on the field, it’s usually because those brain signals were not prepared for the action they needed to take.

By establishing those pathways, you can quickly respond to events on the field confidently. Your body will be more primed for action, helping you perform moves without second-guessing yourself.

Finally, this type of training might help you see improvements in speed, agility, and stamina. Thanks to the versatility of the FitLight Trainer system, you can create custom programs that address your personal athletic shortcomings. Improving your cognitive functions can work wonders on your overall athletic performance while also giving you the mental strength to make smart and quick decisions on the field.

Is There A Better Alternative?

In general, the FitLight Trainer is a pretty solid option. It offers a handful of features and will likely prove useful for a lot of athletes.

But is there something better?

One of the main areas where there’s room for improvement is in the hardware itself. While the lights can be set up in a variety of ways, they are fairly limited when you think about the entire range of peripheral vision.

This means there are some large gaps for the athlete using it, preventing them from fully challenging themselves when it comes to cognitive function. These weak spots will end up showing when you compete.

The limited number of lights also puts a cap on how complex and challenging each drill will be. Not only will this impact performance, but will also prevent the athlete from staying engaged over time (something that’s often overlooked).

The nature of the lights also makes it much harder to emulate moving targets. Athletes are stuck reacting to a very fixed and simple track.

All in all, the portability you get from the FitLight Trainer comes at a cost. While you can set it up anywhere, there is a ceiling to the level of complexity you can program in.

If you’re looking for something a bit more robust that will seriously challenge your athletes, Reflexion is a better choice. Reach out to us here to learn more!

How To Improve Peripheral Vision With Simple Exercises

Improving peripheral vision is something that many athletes want to do. It’s an element of vision that is often neglected, but extremely useful.

But here’s the problem:

There aren’t many great resources that show you exercises and techniques that will take your peripheral vision to the next level.

That’s where this guide comes in. In it, you’ll learn how to improve your peripheral vision quickly and effectively.

Let’s get started.

Why Peripheral Vision Is Important For Athletes

It’s a popular misconception that the key to success in sports is having the ability to focus on one core target at a time. Many believe that developing strong “tunnel vision” is the best way to concentrate on the events unfolding on the field.

While tunnel vision focus is certainly important in some aspects of the game, sports are far more complicated than that. No matter what sport you play, there are probably several things going on at once. Somehow, you need to focus on every single thing at the same time. So, how is that possible?

Well, it all comes down to your peripheral vision. The best athletes can take advantage of their peripheral vision to stay aware of everything that’s happening on the field. Even if you are focusing on a single task, your peripheral vision needs to work overtime so that you never miss any of the action.

Let’s take basketball as an example. Say that you’re tasked with guarding a specific player. You must focus your central vision on that player. However, your peripheral vision will be what helps you spot screen or pass attempts.

The same goes for other fast-paced sports, such as football. If you get your hands on the ball, you might be focused on making it to the goal unscathed. So, how do you avoid tackle attempts by the opposing team’s defensive line? Your peripheral vision is helping you spot those moves before they happen!

Needless to say, your peripheral vision is incredibly important in sports. That information picked up in your mid and far peripherals actually travels to your brain up to 25 percent faster than the information picked up in your central vision.

Because those targets in your peripheral vision aren’t in your main focus line, your brain needs to react to stimulants much quicker. Luckily, our brains are already hardwired for that act. That’s because you use your peripheral vision all the time!

It plays an important role in your balance. Up to 20 percent of those peripheral nerves help you stay upright, which is crucial in sports. However, it doesn’t stop there.

Seasoned athletes will tell you that taking advantage of your peripherals can also help you focus. When you tap into that side-view, the game appears to slow down. Because that information is being sent to your brain faster, objects become more visible. You’re able to track events more efficiently without moving them to your central line of vision.

This is a stark contrast to tunnel vision. With tunnel vision, you’re ignoring your peripherals and focusing solely on the events in your direct line of sight. In many instances, that tunnel vision can hinder your performance by limiting what you see and how you react to events.

Improving your peripheral vision offers tons of benefits. Not only can you reach your full potential on the playing field, but you can also experience noticeable improvements in your everyday life.

The Toothpick And Straw Method

There’s no shortage of techniques to improve your peripheral vision. Humans have been doing this for centuries!

One of the easiest and most accessible techniques out there utilizes nothing more than a simple straw and two toothpicks. This exercise is designed to make you more aware of what’s going on in your side vision.

Your central vision, also known as foveal vision, is incredibly sharp and focused. That’s because there are more rods and cones in the center of your retina. Plus, those ocular rods and cones are far more sensitive to light.

As you start moving to your near, mid, and far peripheral vision, things start to get a bit hazier. Thus, you’re typically not able to make precise movements or make out finer details. The straw and toothpick exercise aims to change that.

Start by drawing a black line on the center of the straw with a marker. This line should go around the circumference of the straw. When you set the straw horizontally on a flat surface, the mark should appear as a vertical line that runs around the entire straw. Think of it like a crosshair.

Now, have a friend hold that straw horizontally in their hands in front of you. Take a step back so that you’re one to two feet away from the straw.

With a straw in each hand, focus your central vision on that black line. Now, try to place the toothpicks into each end of the straw. While you’re doing this, keep your central vision focused on that line!

As you continue to perform this exercise, you should train your mind to have a sharper focus on your peripherals. Eventually, you’ll be able to place those toothpicks into the straw without any issues.

Use Cognitive Training Gear

Cognitive training tools offer a more modern alternative to the old toothpick trick. These are highly advanced tools that are becoming more and more widespread in the sports community.

Several big-name athletes implement cognitive training into their workout routine. As you know, sports isn’t just about having your physical capabilities in check. Your mind has to be stimulated and fine-tuned as well.

With cognitive training tools, you’re able to implement a wide range of exercises to enhance your peripheral vision. While there are several high-tech tools out there, one of the best for vision is a light board.

These boards are electronically powered and flash a series of lights. Many have touch receptors built into them, adding another layer of interactivity that could challenge your mind.

To improve peripheral training, you would stand in front of the board and focus on a fixed point. Then, lights would flash in your side view. You would be tasked with touching those lights quickly and efficiently.

The cool thing about cognitive training tools is that you have a wide range of opportunities to train. Rather than using a predictable technique, these tools keep you on your toes. This prevents you from completing tasks based on pure muscle memory.

Of course, cognitive training tools aren’t just about your peripherals. While your main goal may be harnessing the power of your peripheral vision, you’re also going to experience a myriad of other benefits.

Seeing those lights can improve your response time and decision making skills. Meanwhile, the act of touching the lights can help you see vast improvements in your hand-eye coordination. Pair all of those gains with enhanced peripheral vision and you’ll be a force to be reckoned with on the field.

Try Recording Things That Are Outside Your Central Field Of View

Here’s a simple, yet effective, training technique that’s often used by seniors. As we age, our ability to see outside of our central field of view declines dramatically. It’s estimated that natural aging causes the eyes to lose between 20 and 30 degrees of peripheral vision!

This exercise is one that’s commonly recommended by doctors for folks as they get older. However, it can be done by anyone regardless of age or lifestyle. It’s said to increase the amount of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, that’s getting produced by the brain.

Performing this exercise is very easy. All you need is a nice place to sit, a small notebook, and a pen. Find a nice comfortable spot to sit outside of your home. Choose a park bench or outdoor public space. The goal is to pick a spot that’s brand new to you, so avoid doing the exercise in your home.

Now, look straight ahead of you. You can pick a spot to focus on, but you will need to pay attention to everything you can see in your peripherals. Without moving your eyes, make note of everything in your field of view. This includes things in your central and peripheral vision.

Jot down those things you could make out. Then, repeat the exercise and try to find new things that you might have missed the first go-around.

The goal is to stretch your vision further and enhance your ability to focus on things in your side view. It’s an easy exercise that anyone can do. Yet, it can lead to a noticeable improvement in your peripheral vision.

Do Sports Drills That Challenge Your Peripheral Vision

There’s no better way to see improvement with your peripheral vision than by doing some sports drills! Vision-based drills allow you to enhance your peripheral vision in a familiar setting doing familiar movements. You can test your limits and train by doing activities that are similar to what you’d be doing in a real game.

There are a few different drills that you can try out. The first can be done alone.

With this exercise, you’ll need a ball. You can use a bouncy rubber ball or a basketball. A sturdy wall is required, too.

Stand about two feet away from the wall. Then, focus your central vision on a fixed point on the wall. Choose a spot that’s just above eye level.

Now, throw the ball with one hand against the wall. After it bounces off the wall, use your other hand to catch it. Repeat the process by simply bouncing the ball from one hand to the other.

If you have a friend or teammate on hand, you can move onto a more challenging exercise. With this training method, you will stand in one spot and focus on an object that’s directly in front of you. This could be a tree, a goalpost, or anything else that you see.

Once you’re focused and ready, have your friend toss the ball from your side view. Try to catch the ball without moving your eyes at all. This is a challenging exercise that you can do in various stages.

Start at your near peripheral vision. This isn’t too difficult because it’s not that far away from your central focus. Then, move onto your mid and far peripherals.

Continue this exercise until you reach the current limit of your peripheral vision. Once you get to that limit, you can really start pushing your eyes and brain. This exercise can work wonders for your peripheral vision. Plus, it’ll improve reaction times.

Aim For A Good Diet And Lifestyle

Simple exercises alone can help you see some improvement with your peripheral vision. However, if you want to see the best results possible, you’re going to need to make some changes in your diet and lifestyle as well.

Good overall health can dramatically improve your peripheral vision (and vision as a whole). Several studies have shown that dietary and lifestyle changes can reduce your chances of suffering from glaucoma. This condition causes significant damage to optic nerves. Not only does it lead to a decrease in peripheral vision, but it can also lead to blindness.

Making some simple changes can reduce those risks and keep your eyes in good shape. Drink plenty of water and implement some healthy foods into your diet. Foods that are high in beta-carotene are a big plus. Leafy greens are also known to high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin, which can help filter out harmful light and prevent damage to light-sensing cells in your eyes.

Avoid eating too many saturated fats. Saturated fats have been shown to make glaucoma problems worse.

Furthermore, obesity has been linked to a wide range of vision problems. In addition to poor peripheral vision, dramatic weight gain increases your chances of suffering from diabetic retinal problems, macular degeneration, and more.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle can make a big difference in your peripheral vision. Your eyes can’t reach their full potential if you’re not treating your entire body well, so do all that you can to stay healthy. With a good diet, positive lifestyle choices, and exercise geared toward your peripheral vision, you’ll see improvements in no time.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see, improving your peripheral vision is essential if you want to improve as an athlete.

And with so many different techniques and exercises to try, there’s no reason you can’t get started today. The progress will be gradual, but over time you’ll notice a huge impact on your performance.

If you’re serious about improving peripheral vision for yourself or athletes you coach, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us here to kick things off!

How To Improve Reaction Time: The Complete Guide

Improving your reaction time is one of the best investments you can make in your physical fitness and functionality.

There are so many situations where being able to act just a little bit quicker can make all the difference. This could be in athletics or in your daily life.

In this post, we cover all the best ways you can increase your reaction time. Give them a try and you’ll be happy with the results!

Understanding Reaction Time

Reaction time is one of the most misunderstood elements of human performance. While most people think they know what it is, their definition of it is technically incorrect.

Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or someone who sits at an office all day, reaction time plays a crucial role in every single thing that you do. Essentially, reaction time is how fast you respond to external stimuli.

Your brain and nervous system govern your entire body. Every action you take first has to go through your brain before your body can ever start moving.

Think of it as a computer. Whenever your body experiences a stimulus, electrical signals are sent to the brain to be processed.

This external stimulus doesn’t have to be anything major. It could be bright light hitting or your eyes or someone tapping you on the shoulder. Whatever the case may be, your senses are stimulated immediately.

Those sensory receptors then send out electrical impulses to your brain so that it can decide how you need to respond. Then, the brain sends those signals to the central and peripheral nervous systems so that they can travel to the parts of the body that need to move.

The final result is a physical response to the stimulus. It sounds simple enough, but it’s a complex process that happens in only fractions of a second.

Why Improving It Is So Important

As we mentioned earlier, your reaction time is incredibly important for your everyday life. It keeps you safe and ensures that your body is primed to move whenever it needs to.

Think about all of the activities you do that rely on quick reaction times to perform successfully. Driving is a big one. When a car suddenly pulls out in front of you, quick reaction time can mean the difference between staying safe and getting into an accident.

The same goes for simple falls. When you trip, your brain must respond quickly to the visual stimulation so that it can tell your hands to catch yourself. Even being exposed to blinding light relies on fast reaction times to prevent any long-term damage to your vision!

Don’t mistake reaction time with reflexes. While reflexes and reaction times both work to keep you safe, there is one key difference. Reflexes are involuntary movements to stimuli. Meanwhile, reaction time deals with voluntary movements that you have to consciously make.

Reflexes aren’t affected too much by lifestyle choices or mental prowess. They’re always there working behind the scenes to avoid harm whether you’re paying attention to your surroundings or not.

That’s not the case with reaction times. Unfortunately, your ability to react quickly can wane over time. Your brain naturally gets slower as you age due to impairment and degeneration. Poor health and lifestyle choices can exacerbate the problem as well.

Different Ways To Improve Reaction Time

The good news is that it’s completely possible to improve reaction times. Strengthening that connection between your body and brain can make a noticeable difference in your ability to react to the world around you.

Physical responses will seem quicker than ever before and that brief moment of “buffering” can be eliminated over time.

There are various techniques you can use to do this. While some are easier to do than others, they’re all worth trying.

Train A Specific Movement Or Action

Have you ever wondered why athletes always perform the same drills over and over again? Well, a large part of that is geared towards improving reaction time on the field.

There’s no better way to speed up reaction times than to physically train your body to perform the response you want to happen. When you do those exercises, you’re firing up the central nervous system just like you would if you were naturally responding to a stimulus.

This creates neural connections between your brain and your body. The more you train those movements, the stronger the connection will be. That’s why mimicking movements is such a huge part of athletic training.

Having those neural connections established and reinforced ensures that the electrical signals can quickly get through to your body.

There are several ways that you can train. It all depends on the sport you play. Sprinters often work to improve reaction times by simulating the explosive starting sound of a gunshot or bell.

When every second counts (like it does in sprinting competitions), getting your body comfortable with that response can make all the difference.

Those who play contact sports like football or rugby often perform plyometric exercises. These are explosive workout moves that require you to use as much muscle force as possible in a split second. Jump squats and lateral hops are both good examples.

Athletes can also participate in over-speed training. Essentially, over-speed training is forcing your brain to adapt to stimuli that are much faster than what you’d normally be encountering in a real-world setting. The idea is that getting more comfortable with extremely fast stimulation will make your average reaction times much faster.

You’ll see many athletes doing over-speed training. Baseball players often practice batting with machines that throw the ball well over 100 miles an hour. Meanwhile, football players are often paired with faster teammates to perform drills so that they’re better prepared for the opposing team.

Ultimately, the best workout to increase reaction time will mimic the movement you’re aiming to speed up.

Keep Yourself Calm

On the opposite side of the spectrum, you can work to enhance your reaction times by simply learning to stay calm. Oftentimes, distractions are a big reaction time killer.

Athletes faced with screaming fans and a ton of moving players on the field have to hone in on their target to ensure that they’re responding quickly to the events of the game.

To use another example, drivers need to stay calm and distraction-free on the road so that they can respond to every unexpected hazard that comes up.

There’s a strong link between meditation and reaction times. Several studies have shown that having the ability to calm the mind strengthens your brain’s response to sudden stimuli.

When you think about how meditation is performed, it starts to make more sense. Meditation is all about staying calm and being mindful of your own body. Practitioners work hard to pay attention to their breathing and increase their awareness of what their body is doing.

Contrary to popular belief, meditation isn’t focused on “emptying” the brain and thinking about nothing. Instead, it’s about learning how to stay calm and alert no matter how crazy the world around you is.

Give meditation a shot and see how it can improve your reaction time. Take up guided meditation or yoga. Alternatively, you can develop your own calming techniques to utilize whenever things get crazy.

Either way, learning how to stay calm can make a noticeable difference in your body reactions to audible and visual stimulation.

Stay Hydrated

Did you know that the brain can shrink a bit whenever you’re dehydrated? The brain is predominantly made of water, so a lack of hydration can have a huge effect on your reaction time.

How is your brain supposed to fire off signals when it’s struggling to stay healthy?

Proper hydration is key to improving your overall health, and your brain is no exception. Countless studies have established a link between poor cognitive performance and dehydration.

The tricky thing about keeping your brain hydrated is that you might not even know you’ve reached a critical point. By the time you feel the urge to take a sip of water, your brain might already be a little sluggish.

To avoid these issues and keep your brain in tip-top shape, consume water constantly throughout the day. Keep a bottle on hand. Many experts say that you should drink at least 2 liters of water every day.

However, that’s just a minimum. The more water your body gets the better. Not only will you experience improvements in your reaction time, but you’ll also see a boost in your overall health and performance.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting at least 8 hours of sleep a day is required to stay healthy. Unfortunately, busy schedules can make this difficult for many people.

Have you ever stayed up all night to cram for a test or prepare for a big presentation at work? Chances are your reaction time was incredibly poor the following day.

There’s a reason why they tell you not to get behind the wheel when you’re tired. Your brain needs those precious hours of sleep to function properly.

Think of your brain as a computer. Like any other smart computer, it runs on a 24-hour internal clock cycle. Called the circadian rhythm, this cycle puts your brain into different states of operation.

When you’re awake, your brain acts like a temporary hard drive. All of the events of the day are stored in your short-term memory. When you call it a night and go to sleep, all of that information is then backed up to your long-term memory.

But what happens when the short-term memory doesn’t have time to get backed up? Much like a filled hard drive, you’re going to experience some extreme data buffering and major performance issues!

You can dramatically increase your reaction times by just getting a good night of rest. It’s simple, but you’d be surprised by how quick your reaction times can be when you wake up feeling refreshed.

Properly Fuel Your Body

It might come as a surprise, but your diet can affect reaction times, too. The food you’re consuming is fuel for your body, and all of the nutrients you put into your body are used up by the organs to stay healthy.

This includes your brain.

Tons of foods can have a noticeable effect on your reaction times. One of the most common is coffee or soda. Heavily caffeinated drinks improve your energy levels and can stimulate your brain in so many different ways.

Generally, health professionals will tell you to steer clear of energy drinks, excessive coffee drinking, and sugary sodas. It’s true that these caffeinated goods aren’t that great for your overall health in the long term. However, caffeine is not the primary issue.

Caffeine is perfectly fine in moderation. If you can get it from a natural source like tea, you can reap the benefits without the unwanted risks from other sugary treats

When you consume caffeine, your body releases adrenaline hormones. This gets your blood pumping and directly affects the amount of oxygen your brain is getting. As a result, you’ll feel more alert. Your reaction times will see a boost as well. Though, this boost will only be temporary.

If you want to feed your brain over the long-term, you can improve your diet and introduce several nutrients. Antioxidants are known to protect the brain. They have polyphenols, which may help to keep the brain safe from stress.

Antioxidants, as a whole, are capable of fighting off the signs of aging. This includes brain degeneration. The nutrient works to fight off free radicals and prevent cell oxidation.

Another good nutrient to add to your diet is Vitamin K. Vitamin-rich foods like broccoli, kale, and spinach are said to improve overall brain function.

These small changes to your diet can have a profound effect on your reaction times. When your brain is able to reach peak performance levels, it’s able to send off signals at incredibly fast speeds.

Perform Cognitive Training Exercises

One of the most effective ways to improve your reaction time is to do cognitive training exercises. These exercises are specifically targeting your brain rather than other muscles in your body.

Cognitive training is a relatively new concept that has made waves in the sports world in recent years. Some of the biggest athletes in the world have cognitive training included in their workout regime.

There are many forms of cognitive training. However, they all serve the same purpose and work the same way. Essentially, you are exposed to visual and audible stimulants and must respond as quickly as you can.

It’s like a game. In fact, most training routines are pretty addicting!.

The impact this form of training can have is astounding. It’s all about establishing and strengthening those neural pathways we mentioned earlier.

By forcing your brain to respond to visual stimulants on a playing screen, you’re creating new neural paths that your brain can use to communicate with your central nervous system.

The more you train, the shorter and stronger those paths will become. Your brain will get more comfortable shooting signals through the most effective path possible, which translates into faster reaction times.

If you’re a serious athlete looking to improve your reaction time, we’d love to help you out. Get in touch with us here.

Closing Thoughts

Increasing your reaction time is incredibly beneficial whether you’re an athlete or not. It brings a number of benefits to your daily life that can’t be undervalued.

We highly recommend trying all of the methods on our list. When you combine them the results will blow you away.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to use cognitive training to supercharge your brain for maximum performance you can click here to learn more.

How To Increase Your Revenue With Reflexion

You know better than anyone that athletes are always looking to gain a competitive edge.

And just about every gym and trainer understands the fundamentals.

They know plenty about speed and agility exercises. They understand the finer points of weight and strength training too.

Even better, these days most are making a point to improve the nutrition and quality of rest that their athletes are getting as well.

But times have changed.

While offering these elements of performance training was considered innovative five years ago, you need to do more if you want to differentiate yourself.

That’s where vision and cognitive training comes in.

This form of training is spreading like wildfire, and many see them as the final frontier of sports performance.

With so many athletes looking to improve their cognitive function, this presents a great opportunity for you to set yourself apart from the competition.

You see, a lot of your competitors haven’t caught on yet. But they will eventually.

This means that acting fast comes with a serious first-mover advantage, but dragging your feet means you’ll be playing catch-up.

Here’s why:

You can become the leader in your area simply by being one of the only facilities to offer neuro-fitness training. It instantly positions you as someone on the cutting edge who serious athletes want to work with.

Over the last few years, the number of athletes that have shown interest in this kind of training has grown rapidly.

And even better, they’re willing to pay a premium for access. It’s good for them, and good for you.

But here’s the thing:

If you let your competitors beat you to the punch it’ll be hard to catch back up. Sure it’s possible, but it’s a lot easier to just be first.

How It Works

 

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

Reflexion is a sleek, fun to play, and effective form of training that results in significant boosts in performance for athletes.

Using it in a gym setting is easy. Each athlete has their own profile where they can track and train in a personalized way.

This allows you to add neuro-fitness training to your existing offers, and charge additional fees for its use. This can obviously be tweaked to fit your gym’s existing membership mode. Raise it by $10/mo per person. Pay per class? Offer it as one of your classes.

You’ve got options.

Not only that, but you can easily start using Reflexion to improve your marketing. We’ll provide powerful co-branded marketing materials that explain the principles of neuro-fitness, why it’s important, and why athletes should pay for it.

But won’t members run for the exits if you raise prices?

We’ve actually seen the opposite. Most members and athletes tend to be fine with a price increase for this service because of the additional value they’re getting. Reflexion is a sleek, fun to play, and (most importantly) a highly effective form of performance training.

Simply put, athletes get hooked on seeing progress while using the service, as well as on the field.

You don’t need to be a neuro-fitness expert to offer it either. We’ll provide you with recommended circuits that we’ve created with experts in the space. This means you don’t have to be a neuroscientist to provide value to your members.

And things look good when it comes to ROI as well.

We’ve seen customers drawing in over $1,000/month in new revenue by having Reflexion, so it will pay for itself in no time. Positively impacting the performance of your athletes and your bottom line at the same time is a win-win for everyone!

If you’re interested in learning more about offering Reflexion to your members and athletes, reach out to us here.

Reflexion In The News: Two Podcasts We’re Proud Of

Reflexion was recently mentioned in a couple of sports vision and training podcasts and we wanted to share them with you. It’s always great to hear well-respected individuals complement the work we’re doing, and it motivates us to do even more!

The First Podcast

The first podcast was all about the quick decision making and anticipatory ability great athletes have. While this is often assumed to be “fast reflexes” there’s actually a lot more at play.

Athletes on the cutting edge are utilizing visual-motor reaction time training to see drastic improvements in their performance when it’s time to compete. There are a number of tools on the market, with Reflexion being at the forefront.

This podcast episode dives into this form of training with Dr. Daniel Laby. Dr. Laby is an Ophthalmologist and founder of SportsVision NYC. He has a number of very interesting takes on how vision plays into the ability for an athlete to perform at the highest level.

Dr. Laby has been measuring reaction time and gathering data from thousands of baseball players over the past two decades. This has given him a unique insight into cognitive training and neuro-fitness when it comes to sports.

He believes that it’s important to develop a customized training plan when implementing sports vision training since all sports are different. Different sports require different visual skills, so a one size fits all approach isn’t the way to go.

We’re honored to be mentioned in this episode and are excited that experienced leaders in the space consider Reflexion to be such a great option.

You can find the podcast below:

The Second Podcast

The other podcast episode Reflexion was mentioned in was also on the topic of sports vision training. However, the focus of the discussion was slightly different.

Dr. Greg Appelbaum was the guest and he spoke at length about various forms of visual training tools and how they can be used to optimize human performance. Dr. Appelbaum runs the Duke University School of Medicine’s Human Performance Optimization Lab.

This lab works with a wide range of tools and products to test and optimize the role of visual systems in human performance. Not only do they spend their time thinking about technology like Reflexion, but augmented reality and virtual reality as well.

Among the topics covered in the episode were the cost of sports vision training, how these tools can keep athletes safe, and what sports are ideal for this kind of training. Dr. Appelbaum is a wealth of knowledge in this area, and it makes for a really interesting listen.

Here’s the episode:

NeuroTracker Review: Thoughts On The System And App

NeuroTracker is a mental training tool that was first developed back in 2009. The company was founded by Jocelyn Faubert, a professor at the University of Montreal. The goal of this training device is to improve cognitive performance and experience real-world benefits in sports and beyond.

The science behind the NeuroTracker is not new. In fact, the training program is backed by over two decades of neuroscience research at Faubert Lab at the University of Montreal. The developers have performed several research studies to monitor the benefits of NeuroTracker and say they plan on continuing to improve the program going forward.

NeuroTracker workouts are very simple. At its core, the program is essentially a video game. It can be used on large screens on the wall or on a laptop. The reason for this is that the developers wanted users to be able to use this program in a variety of situations.

Essentially, NeuroTracker is about pairing mental stimulation with physical actions in a three-dimensional space. When using it there are 3D balls that get displayed on the screen. The virtual objects float around the screen, forcing you to keep track of them. The program includes several “games” with varying objectives.

Regardless of what the goals are of the particular game you’re playing, NeuroTracker requires you to react to what you’re seeing on the screen in the real world.

One of the features that the developers of NeuroTracker talk about a lot is the fact that you’re not limited to 2D interactions on the screen. The program is actually performed with 3D graphics, which they say challenges your spatial awareness and provides further mental benefits.

Beyond the graphics on the screen, the system is attached to motion tracking sensors or objects that require physical interaction.

For example, it’s often used by coaches and physical therapists with a screen and ball. In this instance, the NeuroTracker utilizes a motion sensor to monitor your movements and translate your physical activities into a digital response. Customization is also possible as well, and you can train your brain using gear that’s familiar to your sport. For instance, it can be paired with hockey sticks or a soccer ball.

If a large training space is not available, NeuroTracker can be used on a computer as well. The monitor displays the same 3D graphics. However, the physical reaction is based on keystrokes and mouse clicks.

No matter how you decide to use NeuroTracker, the developers say the program should be able to work with your particular needs. It utilizes artificial intelligence to continually adapt to your skill level. There’s no need for your coach or therapist to make manual adjustments on your behalf. Instead, the system will make changes based on your performance in the previous round.

For example, say that you start the program off by completing the first exercise without a hitch. NeuroTracker will remember your progress and challenge you more the next time. The three dimensional balls on the screen will move faster and take on more complex paths.

On the other hand, poor performance on a round will result in fewer complications moving forward. The program continues to learn more about you and your capabilities as you play. It’s supposed to find that “sweet spot,” ensuring that you are receiving an optimal mental workout.

What Benefits Do They Say NeuroTracker Provides?

According to the developers of NeuroTracker, this program is capable of giving you a competitive edge on the field. NeuroTracker is heavily advertised towards athletes and sports buffs. But, the company claims that the improvements can make a difference in other areas of your life as well. It’s currently being used by many athletes and even the United States military.

The idea that this system is built on is that enhanced cognitive function is directly connected to physical performance. There have been several studies throughout the past few decades to back up that claim. But how exactly does NeuroTracker fit into the equation?

Well, the program is said to lead to improvements in three key areas. These include attention, awareness, and decision-making. The company says that performing the mental exercises for only 18 minutes every day can lead to a noticeable improvement.

When it comes to attention, NeuroTracker is supposed to help you stay focused on your key objectives on the field. The act of tracking the moving objects on screen is said to train your brain into blocking out distractions that you may encounter during a play. Regardless of the sport you play, there’s a good chance that your surroundings are riddled with distractions that can throw you off.

Visual distractions are, perhaps, the most important things to avoid during a play. By learning to focus on one single item at a time, you may be able to maximize your potential and identify opportunities during the game. Think of it as developing tunnel vision.

The NeuroTracker training routine might be able to improve your ability to block those distractions. This can help you stay sharp and focused no matter how intense the game is.

The second benefit that the company behind NeuroTracker claims the program can provide is increased awareness. Even to fans, high-action sports can be difficult to follow. With multiple players on the field performing a wide range of maneuvers, it can be hard to interpret what’s going on. This gets harder if you’re in the thick of it.

The issue that many players have is controlling the connection between what you see and what you do. While your reaction time may seem instant, that’s rarely the case. It takes fractions of a second for those synaptic transmissions to happen. Then, you have to process the information.

All of these functions have to occur as fast as possible. Studies have shown that increasing your awareness and mental processing power can make a huge difference in a sports setting.

NeuroTracker is supposed to help you stay aware of what’s going on around you, even if you’re focused on your objective. The act of tracking those balls on the screen may improve your ability to interpret things faster.

While you must focus on the core objective, you have to be able to identify new opportunities as they arise. According to the company that makes NeuroTracker, the program can help you do just that. It’s said to enhance that mental connection for faster reaction times and more awareness.

Finally, there’s decision making. Decision making is directly connected to your awareness. After all that information is processed in your brain, you must decide on how your body will react.

Again, all of this takes time to happen. The last thing you want in a fast-paced game is to spend more than a second deciding on the next course of action. NeuroTracker is designed to help you respond quickly and efficiently to the events of the game. That way, you can avoid impulsive moves and choose the correct maneuver the first time.

Are There Better Alternatives?

Now that you have a good understanding of NeuroTracker, it’s time to weigh the pros and cons.

One of the advantages is that it can be used on any computer. This means you can use it at home for some exercises (as long as you have the right glasses).

However, there are some downsides to NeuroTracker that you should be aware of before you commit.

The first is there’s a lack of body engagement with the exercises. Integrating full-body movement (or “functional movement”) adds unique benefits in cognitive and visual training. This is because it requires more coordination between different areas of the brain that involve motor skills.

Another thing to be aware of is that NeuroTracker cannot be easily added to a standard training regimen. By nature, it has to be in a fixed “lab” setting. This means athletes need to take additional time out of their routines to utilize it.

Lastly, the level of flexibility and variation within the exercises are rather limited. For the most part, you’re looking at static drills that can’t change what cognition is being trained. The downside of this is you can’t customize the exercises based on a particular sport. You can adjust the difficulty, but that’s about it.

If portability and the option to customize your drills based on sport is something you value, we recommend giving Reflexion a shot. Get in touch with us and we’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have.

The Binovi Touch By Eyecarrot: Pros And Cons

Developed by EyeCarrot Innovations, the Binovi Touch is a tool that’s designed to improve visual performance. It draws heavy inspiration from the Saccadic Fixator, which has been used in sports and rehabilitation centers for various purposes over the last 20-30 years.

The Binovi Touch is comprised of a large panel with several flashing lights. While the basic principles of the two training tools are similar, the Binovi Touch offers a slightly different approach when it comes to trying to help athletes improve their performance.

In total, the panel holds 49 multi-colored LED lights. They’re arranged in a circular pattern for the purpose of covering as much of your field of vision as possible when you’re standing in front of it. Hidden within the panel, you’ll also find lights that can create shapes and dots. Once a training program is initiated, the lights will flash in a variety of patterns to challenge the mind.

The goal of training with the Binovi Touch is to follow and react based on what the lights do within the program. Each of the primary lights is connected to a physical switch that will record your response times as you complete the training program.

From a design standpoint, the Binovi Touch was designed to try and be as flexible as possible. It’s a modular device that can be paired with others to create programs with increased difficulty. Portability is also something that the company tried to accomplish when creating this product. The goal was for trainers and coaches to be able to use it with athletes in a variety of settings.

The design of the Binovi Touch isn’t very fancy, but there is a fair amount of technology working behind the scenes. An example of this is the Bluetooth connectivity feature.

The Binovi Touch panel is powered by a simple LED matrix display. The training interface and tactile buttons are overlayed on top of the display, leaving little room for training controls and analytic data. EyeCarrot Innovations relies on smartphones and tablets to make up for this.

In order to control and use the Binovi Touch the athlete or trainer needs to use the accompanying app. The app has a collection of visual exercises that were inspired by or directly pulled from the Saccadic Fixator. There are also some newer training modes and customization options to modify your routine as you please.

By using the application you’ll get access to records and critical data in real-time. The goal of this is to allow coaches to monitor the performance of their athletes via their mobile devices as they’re going through the exercises. Saving the data allows the user to compare it to previous sessions and highlight areas that need improvement.

From there, visual exercise routines can be customized to try and deliver a program that fits the needs of each athlete. The Binovi Touch is one of EyeCarrot’s main products, which means there will likely be some more improvements in the future.

The company says they have plans to include third-party integration going forward as well. This would allow the user to connect the Binovi Touch with other training equipment, such as heart rate monitors, controllers, wearables, and more.

What Benefits Is It Supposed To Provide?

As we mentioned earlier, the Binovi Touch focuses on providing visual training. While the device is predominantly advertised for sports applications, the company behind it claims that it can also provide benefits to senior citizens, those who are going through rehabilitation, and more.

The company behind the Binovi Touch is EyeCarrots Innovations and their main focus is providing technological solutions for visual training. So what claims do EyeCarrots Innovations make about the Binovi Touch?

The first benefit that the company says this device can provide is increased reaction times. It should come as no surprise that a faster response to events on the field can lead to greater success. While the differences are minute, having the ability to process what you’re seeing may help to speed up those synaptic transmissions that your brain sends to various parts of your body.

According to EyeCarrots Innovations, the Binovi Touch improves your responsiveness by speeding up saccades. Saccades are the quick movement of your eyes as you focus on one visual stimulant to the next.

The central design of the Binovi Touch is meant to challenge those movements. Throughout a training program, your eyes must find and follow the flashing lights. Then, you have to react by pressing the corresponding light.

With continued training, this simple repetitive action is supposed to lead to faster response times. Because the tactical response is a core part of the system, the manufacturers also claim that training will enhance hand-eye coordination and visual perception. Both are directly connected to your reaction times.

Visual perception refers to how your brain interprets objects in your environment. Essentially, your eyes are picking up a message that has to be sent to your brain to be processed. While it may not seem like perception is that important in sports, you’d be surprised by what a few milliseconds of time can do.

Continual training with the Binovi Touch is said to enhance the way you perceive your surroundings. Responding to the stimulants on the device is supposed to be a form of strength training for your brain. By keeping your visual perception skills sharp, you may be able to translate that efficiency to a sports setting.

Even after your brain has interpreted that visual data, it still needs to tell your body what to do next. This is where your hand-eye coordination comes in. Movements might seem instant to us in the real world.

But, the reality is that there’s always a slight delay in everything you do. Neurotransmitters have to send those signals before your body can jump into action. Like visual perception, constantly challenging that connection between your body and your brain is believed to help you see improvements in your sports performance.

Another key benefit that the manufacturers of Binovi Touch say can come with this device is improved visual memory. In a game setting, visual memory plays a crucial role in how your brain reacts to the events unfolding in front of you. Athletes must make split-second decisions based on what they’re seeing.

This involves mapping out where other players are, the location of the ball, and field position. In just an instant, you’re forced to use those limited visual cues to determine your next course of action.

The Binovi Touch is said to improve visual memory through its use of flashing lights. Due to the fast-paced nature of the training routine, you must identify the location of light quickly and respond to it while you’re searching for the next.

Your brain is processing multiple things at once. Yet, your actions are relying solely on your visual memory of the light’s location to touch it.

EyeCarrot Innovations also says that you can experience other benefits with the use of additional accessories. These include enhancements to your balance and improved visual perception at different distances.

For balance, you’ll need to pair the Binovi Touch with a balance board or half-dome exercise ball. Standing on the balancing tool while performing the exercises is said to help you process changes in your inner ear better. This unique training routine forces your brain to respond to changes in balance while it’s working on taking care of other tasks.

Using a tablet with the Binovi Touch may be effective if you’re looking to enhance your visual performance at different distances. Within the app, you can take advantage of a digital version of the board. It responds in the same way as the tactical buttons.

However, it allows you to perform the same training exercises at a significant distance away from the board. This may be able to help you learn how to respond to visual stimulants regardless of space between you.

Is There A Better Alternative?

Binovi has fairly robust software. In fact, it’s software can compete with a lot of the solutions out there.

But the hardware definitely leaves some room for improvement.

Limitations to the functionality of training and exercises mean that users need to make compromises when using it. Here’s what we mean:

First off, the 4×4 board doesn’t cover peripheral vision. This limits the effectiveness of the exercises and means you’ll have weak spots when it comes to performing in a competition.

The Binovi touch also doesn’t require as much movement or balance as other superior hardware (like Reflexion). You can attach multiple boards together if you want to compensate for this, but that increases the cost and doesn’t address the other issues.

Another weak spot in the physical design is the limited number of lights on the board. This puts a cap on how complex and challenging you can make each drill, leading to an eventual lack of progress or interest from your athletes. The low light count also means the Binovi Touch can’t emulate moving targets effectively, which is a major downside.

Lastly, if you’re looking for something portable this likely isn’t the product for you. It’s quite the hassle to move the Binovi Touch from place to place. These days many trainers, coaches, and athletes want to incorporate some sort of visual performance training into their exercises at multiple locations. This makes portability a must.

The plus side is these lack of features do keep the cost down, making it a suitable option if you’re looking for a bare-bones training product. However, if you want something more robust you’re better off sticking with something like Reflexion.

Get in touch with us here to learn more!

Senaptec Review: Pros & Cons Of Their Strobe Glasses

Senaptec is a tech company that has garnered some attention from the sports world in recent years. Launched in 2013, Sepaptec focuses on the connection between motor skills and the brain.

The name “Senaptec” comes from synaptic function, which is the transmission of electrical nerve impulses from one nerve cell to another. Brain function and your body’s reaction to the things you see can have a positive impact on your physical performance. This doesn’t just apply to athletic activities, but it’s also true for tactical military maneuvers as well.

Senaptec says their goal is to improve mental processing to help athletes experience improved physical performance. In order to do this, the company has developed a range of products that are supposed to train the brain and sharpen mental skills.

Many of the products are implemented into training regimes or used alongside standard drill practice. They’re meant to change your approach, adding new elements to challenge your mind and body.

What Are The Senaptec Strobe Glasses?

The product that Senaptec promotes the most is the Strobe. The Senaptec Strobe is a pair of glasses that are built to provide users with strobe light training. The pitch is that instead of needing to cover a training area with lights, the glasses provide the same effect in a smaller package.

Athletes are encouraged to wear the glasses during their regular training routine. This is supposed to add more complexity to the session and improve results.

At first glance, these glasses look like a standard pair of goggles. They feature large lenses that cover the entire eye, a curved frame that follows the contours of your face, and an elastic strap so you can secure the glasses to your head. The overall design of the glasses is pretty simple, and you likely wouldn’t know what they did if you saw them.

Instead of traditional lenses, the glasses use liquid-crystal lenses. The reason for this is they can go from fully transparent to opaque very quickly.

This is what’s going to recreate the strobe effect. Once the Senaptec Strobe glasses are turned on, the liquid crystal lenses will flash based on a predetermined setting. The main function of the glasses is to limit the visual information the wearer receives.

There are some very basic levels of customization that you can use with these glasses as you’re working out. During the first few sessions, athletes can stick to an easier setting. The lenses will flash at a faster rate, providing more visual information as they maneuver the training field.

As an athlete gets used to the Senaptec Strobe, the difficulty can be increased. All this really means is that the glasses will remain dark for long periods of time, forcing the athlete to make decisions and act with less visual information.

The Strobe glasses can connect to a smartphone app via Bluetooth so coaches or trainers can adjust the difficulty settings during a workout. Alternatively, the glasses have buttons on the side so the athlete can make tweaks themselves.

What Benefits Does the Company Say These Strobe Glasses Provide?

Senaptec makes a lot of claims about what the Strobe glasses can do for athletes. At its core, the glasses are a tool to perform stroboscopic training. The continual flashing of the lenses is said to improve response times, visual acuity, and more.

With stroboscopic training, your brain has to function on very little information. Your mind is forced to fill in the details as you make a split-second decision. Their Strobe glasses can help to improve this process.

In normal games or high-stress situations, you’re able to have a clear view of your surroundings. Yet, many athletes aren’t quick enough to successfully perform a maneuver based on the events that are unfolding. Some even experience injuries due to a slow synaptic transmission between the brain and body.

Senaptec claims that stroboscopic training with the glasses forces individuals to process information more efficiently. With only a fraction of a second of visual information to work off of, the glasses pose a big challenge. Forcing the brain to work off of limited information is like strength training. With regular training sessions, the athlete’s mind is supposed to get better and better at doing its job.

This is often referred to as visual cognition. Essentially, it’s an athlete’s ability to analyze a scene in front of them and determine the next course of action. Ideally, those who partake in fast-paced sports need to have the best visual cognition skills possible. This is where Senaptec says their Strobe glasses come into play.

With this increased brain efficiency, Senaptec says that athletes can also see improvements in other areas as well. Some of these areas include response time and anticipatory timing.

Having fast response times is crucial in any competitive sports environment. While we often think that response times are instant in simple situations, there’s actually a pattern of neural responses that must occur. Your brain must process the visual stimulant you see. Then, you have to decide how you’ll respond to it and send signals to your body to make those moves.

Take a look at any slow-motion video of someone getting hit by a ball. They often don’t respond to it until several milliseconds later, even if they’ve been hit by the ball.

Senaptec says that training with the Strobe glasses can increase your response times because your brain is better equipped to send those signals. The same goes for anticipatory timing. However, the difference is that you respond before the stimulant occurs.

Your mind is able to view your surroundings and make a snap judgment of what’s about to occur. The timing difference in these situations is very minute. However, it gives your mind and body just enough time to act before the event in question occurs.

Senaptec also claims that their glasses can help with recovery after an injury. According to the company’s findings, stroboscopic has helped athletes recover after an injury by improving neuroplasticity.

Typically, players have to cease all physical exercise for a bit to give their ailment time to heal. Unfortunately, the brain starts to “forget” neural connections. This is done to make way for connections that are more useful to the recovery process.

This form of training is said to help retain those connections by forcing the body to move more naturally. By limiting visual information, your body is less afraid to rely on the injured limb. Apparently, this can help to restrengthen those limbs and restore the lost neural connections.

Ultimately, the Strobe glasses can improve a wide range of sensorimotor skills. The focal point of the company’s endeavors is to strengthen those connections between an athlete’s eyes, brain, and body. While strobe light training has been around for quite some time, Senaptec thinks its Strobe product is a more efficient way of achieving many of those benefits.

Their Sensory Station

Senaptec also offers a product they call the Senaptec Sensory Station. This is essentially a monitor that’s mounted on a stand with wheels.

The company says that this station is designed to help athletes improve on various sensory skills that they use during competition.

The main skills it tests are:

  • Eye-hand coordination
  • Basic perception
  • Near far quickness
  • Multiple object tracking
  • Dynamic vision
  • Depth perception

The complete test lasts just under half an hour and the athlete is provided with a performance report when they’re finished. This report also gives athletes a percentile ranking to show where they stand for various skills.

Is There A Better Option?

The Strobe Goggles are a great, inexpensive way for coaches to start vision and cognitive training with their athletes, but the headgear and Sensory Station come with downsides. For starters, the goggles are designed to be worn while doing other types of training, which can be a good thing because it’s not interrupting other workouts. The problem with the goggles is it makes it very difficult to track any sort of progress or decline.

Your athletes want to know they are getting better, whether that’s tracking their max bench or monitoring batting average, and they especially want to beat other athletes. The Strobe goggles lack any information on performance, and so you may struggle with keeping players engaged with neuro-fitness training.

Reflexion provides drills that improve similar areas of the brain, while also providing information and report cards continuously to the user as they are training. The report cards let them see the immediate impact of their training, and even compare how they stack up against others. This combination is ideal for pulling the most out of athletes and keeping them excited about skill training.

You can still do this if you have a Sensory Station with your strobe glasses, but generating a report requires a dedicated 20+ minute assessment every time you want one, and it’s a limitation you should be aware of. Many of these assessments are also oriented more towards optometrists in vision therapy protocol, as their website customer map indicates.

The Sensory Station also lacks a crucial element of this growing industry: evolution. With technology changing so rapidly, have you ever been concerned about buying something that’ll be outdated in three years?

That’s why Reflexion’s service is constantly evolving to provide new tests and drills, offering features like national leaderboards and seasonal competitions. We do this because scientists are only beginning to understand the power of vision training (and the effects are already staggering). As this emerging field continues to develop, you can be confident you’re using the latest and best training techniques as subscribers to our service.

If portability is important to you, Senaptec comes with its challenges. Their Sensory Station is very large and requires a dedicated space for it. On the other hand, the Edge will collapse like an accordion to transport or store, and the setup time takes less than 3 minutes. Senaptec does offer a portable tablet version with limited assessments, but you’ll miss the crucial elements of full-body movement and peripheral vision.

If space is tight and you can’t dismiss peripheral vision, be sure to measure the area you plan to put your new technology in and understand that you’re stuck with that if you chose Senaptec.

Whether you’re just getting started in sports vision or expanding existing offerings, Senaptec can be a good option for you. But like any major decision, be sure to consider the benefits and weakness of their technology so you are confident the features fit your needs.

If you want to learn more about Reflexion so you can weigh your options, head over to this page and get in touch!

How to Improve Reflexes for Fighting and Martial Arts

Learning how to improve your reflexes for fighting or martial arts is something you should take very seriously. While factors like technique and skill obviously play a big part in your success, the ability to react quickly is essential.

Having slower reflexes than your opponent gets punished harder in fighting than any other sport. A split second can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Luckily, there are a number of approaches you can take. Some involve training your mind and other focus on the body.

A mix of both will help you do things like dodge, see a punch coming, and strike quicker than ever.

Why Are Reflexes Important For Fighting?

While many spectators view combat-focused sports like MMA or boxing as a show of brute strength, that’s not the case. Sure, having impressive muscle strength will do you good in any fight. However, strength is useless if you don’t know what to do with it.

Truth is, fighting is all about how athletes react to one another in the heat of combat. Some say that it’s a battle of reflexes rather than strength. With every swing, strike, and step that your opponent makes in the ring, you must react accordingly to get the upper hand.

Having solid reflexes is crucial for fighting and martial arts. Not only is fighting a fast-paced sport but it’s also unpredictable.

Thus, you have to make split-second decisions based on every piece of stimuli received during a match. Slight delays in your reaction times can mean the difference between getting surprised by a strike and effectively counterattacking. Improving your reflexes can take your skills to the next level and increase the success of your combat techniques.

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to improve your reflexes for fighting. There are several training techniques that fighters use to prepare themselves for the ring.

With that said, improving your reflexes isn’t just for reacting quickly. It’s also about strengthening that mind and body connection to help you react correctly to each move.

Humans are highly sensitive creatures. Thanks to our bevy of senses, it’s not hard to react to sudden stimuli. Most people will display the same “flight” response to loud noises or an oncoming fist.

Of course, as a fighter, you have to train your reflexes to react differently. You need to learn how to understand what your opponent is doing, train yourself to process that information quickly, and instinctively respond. All of this has to happen in an instant, making your reflexes one of the most important things you need to develop.

How Training Yourself To Stay Calm Makes You Quicker

By definition, a reflex is an action performed as a response to a stimulus without conscious thought. It’s that knee-jerk reaction to sharp pain, squinting at the sight of an unexpected flash of light, or the flinch to a sudden loud bang. Reflexes occur without ever having to think about making a reaction.

You can’t expect your reflexes to improve if you have to think about every single thing you do! Despite the important role your mind plays in contact sports, it’s best not to let it get in the way. The first step to improving your reflexes is to learn how to simply keep your head clear.

Regardless of the specific combat sport, the biggest problem that beginners have is overthinking. They worry way too much about their technique and taking all of the right steps. During those early matches, many also go into panic mode and start worrying about every little detail.

Unfortunately, all that worrying will slow down your reflexes significantly. Your mind has to be clear enough to react organically to things you’re experiencing. If you’re worried about your next step, you could miss open opportunities to strike or overlook those important signs that say a punch is coming.

Learning to “turn your brain off” during a match is no easy task. The first step is to make all of your techniques second-nature. You have to be able to make maneuvers without having to think about your form. That’s why fighters spend months or even years training before they even step foot into a ring.

Your techniques should already be bound to muscle memory so that you can truly react on impulse. No amount of analytical thinking will beat pure reflex.

Once you reach that point in your training, you can start to develop habits for keeping your head clear. Focus on your breathing and work to drown out all other distractions apart from your opponent. Before long, you’ll be thinking clearly and reacting naturally.

The Benefits Of Reaction Combination Training

Reaction combination training should be an integral part of your workout routine. It’s not enough to just speed up your reflexes. You also need to improve how you react.

Remember, reflexes are involuntary reactions. The trick with any combat-based sport is to have the right reaction to strikes from your opponent.

The best way to improve your skills in this area is with pad or mitt training. While many coaches will use pads and mitts to give fighters a moving target to practice on, not enough athletes are using these training tools to their full potential.

Pad holders should be doing much more than just changing spots every few seconds. Your opponent is going to be moving around the ring at lighting pace and making unpredictable moves at every turn! So, why train without any of those factors in play?

Controlled drills with complex combinations are the way to go. Your training partner or coach can simulate different kinds of attacks. You would then react defensively or execute a counterattack before resetting and repeating the process.

There’s no need for your mitt holder to perform a full attack. Seeing the start of a move alone is enough to train your brain to act instinctively. Over time, you can up the ante by increasing the pace and introducing more complex combination moves.

If your sport involves grappling, you can use the same technique to enhance your reaction times.

Those constant unpredictable simulated attacks force you to recognize patterns before they even occur. It strengthens that mind and body connection to improve your reflexes and make your reactions second-nature.

How Slow Sparring Improves Reflexes For Fighting

Slow sparring is exactly what it sounds like. It’s when fighters perform all of the same techniques they would use in a real fight in slow motion. It might look ridiculous and counterintuitive at first, but it’s one of the most effective ways to improve your reflexes.

This is because it gives you the opportunity to feel things out and take everything in. In a real match, things are happening so fast that it’s impossible to truly analyze movements and learn what your opponent is doing. It’s important to keep your head clear during a fight, but you still need to be able to predict your opponent’s moves.

Slow sparring is how skilled fighters learn to do just that. When you slow things down, you can take in all of that sensory information. Those tiny details, such as the power buildup for a jab, can be seen.

You’ll be able to study how your opponent moves and get comfortable sharing the ring with another fighter. It gives you time to develop your own strategies and even experiment with new techniques.

The great thing about slow sparring is that, despite the slow-motion movements, your brain learns how to identify those small physical signals that your opponent makes. So, when you’re in a real match, you can respond quickly without even giving it a second thought.

Slow sparring can be used with a wide range of techniques. Typically, it’s first used with defense training. However, you can easily implement counterattacks once your reaction times improve.

Add Reaction Balls To Your Training

Reaction balls are a unique training tool that has great benefits for all athletes. It’s not a tool that’s made specifically for boxing or martial arts, but it serves fighters well when it comes to hand-eye coordination and agility.

Essentially, a reaction ball is a large rubber ball with six round knobs. Because it’s not a perfect circle like a tennis ball, its movements are unpredictable when it bounces off the floor or wall. You can use this to your advantage to improve your reaction time.

There are many different ways to use a reaction ball. One of the simplest is to just drop it from waist level. After a single bounce, try to catch it. You’ll find that the routine is much harder than it sounds.

As you get better at this simple exercise, you can increase the drop height or try to catch the ball with a single hand. You can even start throwing it against a wall to give yourself a greater challenge.

The unpredictable nature of a reaction ball is great for challenging your mind without having to put too much thought behind it. You have to rely solely on your reflexes to catch the ball. Yet, you’re also utilizing the training tool to test your stance, footwork, arms, and hand control.

Doing Shadowbox Sparring

Shadowbox sparring is very similar to slow sparring. However, the difference is that you get to see your opponent’s movements in real-time. This can help you learn how to react and improve your reflexes over time.

With traditional shadow boxing, fighters will simulate moves and make strikes in the air. Some will also do this in front of the mirror to monitor form. While this option does have its advantages, it will do nothing to help you with your reflexes. To see improvements, you need to shadowbox with another fighter.

Basically, shadowbox sparring is when two fighters simulate a match without making any real physical contact. It’s a great way to prepare for a fight mentally. You don’t have to worry about wearing yourself out or treating injuries. Yet, you’re training your reaction time.

Just seeing another fighter in front of you can do wonders to help your reflexes. It exposes you to real-life sensory information. Not only can you react to your opponent’s movements, but they can react back to pose an even greater challenge. It’s the next step up from slow sparring and should be implemented into every fighter’s training regime.

Training With A Double-End Bag

If you can’t get a real person in front of you, a double-end bag is the next best thing. Double-end bags are small circular punching bags attached to the floor and ceiling with responsive elastic cords.

You’ll often see fighters using these bags to test their timing, coordination, and reflexes. Unlike heavy bags, which don’t move much at all, double-end bags bounce very quickly. The cords cause the ball to bob and weave, simulating the movements of an opponent.

Of course, there are more limitations with a punching bag. These bags tend to be on the small side and aren’t capable of moving around the ring. However, the quick movements of the ball after a strike do challenge your reflexes. It’s a moving target that can help you learn how to stay focused and responsive.

Raising Your Overall Awareness

For many novice fighters, their first match is always the hardest. The reason for this isn’t what you think. It’s not just inexperience that makes it difficult but also the surprising response that new fighters have to their opponents when they first step into the ring.

New athletes often go into their first match with all kinds of techniques they want to try out and intense training drilled into their brains. Yet, the moment the match starts, all of that hard works goes away and they spend their time avoiding blows that are getting thrown their way.

This is actually a good thing. It shows that the fighter stayed aware of what was happening during the match and was using their reflexes to avoid getting hit. The trick to turning those impulsive reactions into effective defense or counter moves it to increase your awareness.

A big part of successful fighting, whether it’s in an MMA Octagon or the boxing ring, is being able to read your opponent like a book. It’s about knowing what they are about to do before they even get a chance to do it. If you rely on seeing a fist or kick to know that a strike is happening, it’s already too late.

Every bit of reflex training works to improve your awareness. Remaining calm gives you the ability to stay focused on the sensory information in front of you while combination training and shadowbox sparring teach you to identify the signs of a strike.

Increasing your awareness lets you see those tiny signals that indicate your opponent’s next move. You’ll be able to see when they rotate their body to build power or pull back their arm to prepare a jab. When you pair your high awareness levels with your fast response times, you can react to every move with swift and efficient action.

Whether that reaction is to defend yourself or strike back, you’ll be prepared for whatever comes your way.

Training Your Brain

There are things you can do as an athlete to improve the performance of your brain. This means faster reflexes for fighting and more success.

How does this work?

Using a tool like Reflexion, athletes can use a mix of drills that stimulate your brain in different ways. These can focus on things like response time, visual accuracy, memory, and more.

This means you’ll have a faster processor between your ears that will help you see punches coming, dodge faster, and improve your reflexes across the board. More and more combat athletes are beginning to use tools like this to gain a competitive advantage.

If you’re interested in learning how you can speed up your brain and become a more dominant fighter, get in touch with us!