HOLISTIC TRAINING is a mind-body-environment training approach that links skill development and physical performance. It’s a powerful training strategy that brings together sports science, evolutionary biology, epigenetic theory* and environmental science for a comprehensive training approach that unleashes human skill and wellbeing across the full spectrum of ability and diversity in sport. It’s reframing the way we perceive health, fitness, and optimal performance.
If you're interested in a holistic training approach for sports, fitness and performing arts, you might have come across the term "HOLISTIC" and wondering what it actually means. We're here to help you make sense of holistic training through a SPORTS SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE which focuses on maximising skill and performance potential.
What is a Holistic Approach to Training?
A Holistic Training approach considers the full spectrum of human performance, the person as a whole, their individualities and interactions with peers, culture and environment - Jessica Christensen, CEO and founder of the BBS Training Method™.
The variety of activities available has evolved our generation into a civilisation of movers and achievers. From dance to sports, fitness, music, art and professional expertise: humans have never been so skilled. At times, our advancements have outpaced the education, safety and wellbeing of our environments. This is why we need quality coaching or teaching. These are not jobs that are earned with a weekend certification or can be replaced with the latest technology. A good teacher will have learned through many hours of apprenticeships in addition to a variety of educational pathways. Different disciplines evolve their leaders through a variety of training requirements, where knowledge and competencies vary exponentially.
At the BBS Training Method™, we don’t focus on the detail, the type of movement expression or meddle with the techniques you already know and master. Instead, we look introspectively at our kinesiology, our movement and our biology to understand the principles that make the skill and adaptations happen. We look at the full spectrum of our performance potential, how each system and adaptation intertwines with the other to create the big picture. It will help you to develop a solid baseline to develop movement into skillful mastery, and help you understand the principles of our body’s ability to adapt to repetitive patterns and habits.
What is Holistic Sports Science?
Simply put, HOLISTIC means we are looking at an integrative, big-picture approach within the context of sports science, instead of focusing on one minute detail that forgets the importance of CONTEXT. A holistic approach to sports science is an approach where instead of specialising in a particular area of exercise science or training method, we look at the body as a whole in context to its internal and external environment. Looking at all sporting activities as an expression of movement, as opposed to individual disciplines, and considering all aspects of nature and nurture for athletic development. We break down the individual elements of physical functionality all the way towards optimal performance using a sustained approach that focuses on the wellbeing of the athlete.
When looking at a HOLISTIC APPROACH to training for sports or other types of physical training: we look at how each element interacts and comes together to give us a BIG PICTURE.
Various disciplines will focus and develop competencies within individual fields, and specialisation will always be of great importance in the field of high performance and scientific research - but how many of us coaches, athletes and enthusiasts will end up in a laboratory? When we look at movement, training and performance: we must acknowledge that the human body is a complex biological spectrum that considers far more than muscles, bones and lungs.
Unique Individuals & Biology
Humans are as diverse and unique as snowflakes... Indeed, we share 99.9% of the same DNA with every other human on the planet - but that 0.1% is a vast, wild, open universe of variety. Riccardo Sabatini, an Italian Physicist, showed in a 2016 TED Talk that if printed the full genetic code for a human being, it would have to be printed on 262,000 pages. The 0.1% that makes us unique are just 500 pages. To put it into context: a 2005 found that the largest part of our DNA "matrix" is shared among all animal species. For humans, we most closely match with
chimpanzees — with a 96% DNA match.
If we think of the differences between humans and chimpanzees within a 4% DNA match, then imagine the multitude of variety in 0.1% of humans...
So really, we're all pretty similar with a 99.9% match that 0.1% creates a vast array of colours, proportions and nuances.. they are also responsible for how our individual bodies respond to certain types of training, foods, how we think, how we move..
..and then we add things like:
Our habits
Our culture
What we eat
The climate we live in
Once you throw that into the mix, that's how we end up with different results! A holistic approach can help us BECOME MORE AWARE of these differences than using a cookie-cutter approach when it comes to training and performance. The field of Sports Science loves statistics: but sometimes this creates a limitation. Yes, the "majority" of statistical data and science can help us develop training protocols that work for a large part of the population.. but what happens when you don't fit the mould? What happens when you can't find the answer in a textbook?
By bringing a HOLISTIC and a SPORTS SCIENCE approach, you integrate the best of both worlds: we learn about the science that makes humans perform and develop skill, but we mix it with an awareness of variety and understanding of the big picture.
BBS Holistic Training Courses for Coaches
BBS stands for BODY BEFORE SKILL™: in essence, our training approach takes a deep dive into the exploration of our body’s hidden abilities using the full spectrum. We teach how to mould your body to adapt in your favour: whether you’re training to excel at your chosen skill, find the freedom to train pain-free. Our syllabus has developed over fifteen years of research in skill-based and human performance training, cognitive sciences and coaching education. Our courses will teach to guide your body to unleash your inner superhuman with the BODY BEFORE SKILL™ Training Method.
