insoquotient

[minorisato]

i wanna feel like i can finally find a way to be free

transformers / tarnstreaker / wc: 864 / warnings: NA / notes: written a while ago at the request of a friend, i just never posted it. i'm back on my tarnstreaker bullshit. / consider commissioning me!

The Peaceful Tyranny is not a small ship. Don’t get Sunstreaker wrong– it’s not the biggest ship he’s ever been on, certainly smaller than the ARK, but it’s still not small. In his opinion, it’s a bit overly large for the amount of crew on it– not counting him, 6 people and 2 pets, and sometimes Nickel isn’t even around.

So he isn’t sure how he keeps getting fucking lost.

It’s not ridiculously large! He was able to navigate the ARK distinctly easier than this. It shouldn’t be so hard to find his way around. But alas, Kaon says please give these datapads to Tesarus and suddenly Sunstreaker looks like an idiot trouncing around the halls looking for a room he’s probably been to a hundred times, and just can’t remember the exact location of. At this point, it’s getting frustrating– maybe if the halls didn’t all look the same, or maybe if there were more labels on the doors, or maybe if Kaon said something other than “to Tesarus” and gave him actual direction–

“Sunstreaker?” A voice calls, and Sunstreaker snaps out of his internal ranting, turning to face the source. “Are you alright?” Tarn. Tarn is steadily approaching him, and despite the mask covering the majority of his face, what Sunstreaker can see of his optics and hear of his voice conveys a concerned feeling.

Sunstreaker sighs, shoulders slumping, almost dropping the datapads down onto the grating beneath him. “I’m fine,” he tells his– boss? Boyfriend? Both?– not attempting to conceal his exhaustion. “I’m just…”

“You’re lost,” Tarn infers, and Sunstreaker’s optic glitches a bit, agitated at how quickly he was able to guess.

“Yes, I am,” Sunstreaker confesses. “Kaon just asked me to give these datapads to Tesarus, but I don’t know where the fuck Tesarus is.”

Tarn taps the bottom of his mask, as though in thought. “Tesarus isn’t very sociable, so he’s likely off by himself,” he explains. “Recently, he’s been spending time in the data storage, if I recall correctly.”

Sunstreaker nods. Right, data storage. He’s been there, and if he remembers right, then Tesarus actually was there the last time he’d been to that room. Of course, that was probably a stellar cycle ago, at least. (He doesn’t fucking know what Tesarus is up to, he’s not Tesarus’ keeper.) It reminded him distinctly of a library, on Earth. “Right, that would make sense.”

Tarn nods, looking down at him. “So you can find your way there.”

Sunstreaker glances away, then back. “Yes. Obviously.” He then turns his back to the larger, and starts to walk in the direction he vaguely recalls it being in, then–

“Wrong way.”

Sunstreaker halts right in his tracks. This is so frustrating. “I’ll find it.”

“You’ll end up lost,” Tarn sighs, “more lost than you already are.” He approaches the former Autobot, extending a servo to him. “Here, I’ll take you there.”

Sunstreaker, ignoring how absolutely mortifyingly embarrassing it is (or trying to, at least,) takes Tarn’s servo, and begins to walk alongside him. “You’re not too busy, oh powerful leader?”

Tarn exvents, in what might be a laugh. “No, not at the moment. I just finished helping Vos with something, and he’s probably off to go find Helex now.” Sunstreaker can practically hear the smirk behind Tarn’s mask. “I’m sure he’ll get there without issue.”

Sunstreaker bristles, and considers, briefly, shoving the datapads to Tarn and telling him that if he knows his way around then he can deliver the damn things himself, but he also recognizes that would not only be rude, it might lose him a lot of privileges he currently has. Instead, he grits his dentae, before letting out, “I don’t understand how you all can get around.”

“Well, we have been on board longer than you,” Tarn figures, which is reasonable, but it’s not enough.

“What about Kaon? He’s literally blind.” “Oh, the Pet,” Tarn gesticulates, and Sunstreaker starts connecting dots. The Pet could reasonably just lead him around. Tarn confirms this, and adds on, “Vos also helps him sometimes. Beyond that, once you’re used to the layout of a place, you can find your way without seeing rather easily.”

Sunstreaker huffs. “Well.” Again, logical, reasonable. That makes sense. “That makes sense.”

“It does,” Tarn chuckles. “You’ll get used to this all soon enough.”

“I’ve been here long enough,” Sunstreaker counters, “I ought to know already.”

“Everyone learns in their own time,” Tarn counter-counters. He’s being weirdly nice about this. Getting lost seems very inefficient, so Sunstreaker had gotten this idea that Tarn would be angry with him for not knowing his way around, but he’s being very patient regarding it. “Don’t tell him I told you this, but when Helex first came on board, he was still getting lost after three solar cycles. Not very attentive.”

Sunstreaker chuckles. “No, he doesn’t seem so.”

It’s comfortable, in a way, walking with Tarn like this. Embarrassing, sure, to hold onto his servo like a lost sparkling, but it’s comfortable. On some level, he hopes this can keep happening, he and Tarn can keep walking like this. Maybe it’s okay that he doesn’t know his way around just yet.

[pastelpaperplanes]

You mostly draw Megatron with Crusade in his Cybertronian look but in your canons it was said that while carrying the spark Megs wore his Marauder look. Did Megatron changed bodies or is the Canon changed?

yes! haha so hmm let’s see. So far up until A Little Too Familiar I have tossed Crusade into my Crackship AU—because with the Cybertron’s future AU with a whole lot of my other sparklings, ones that have considered backstories, they wouldn’t exist because of Shamus and Envoy!—and yes in the Crack AU, Megan does sport his Marauder Upgrade.

I’m still 1000% open to keeping Crusade as like,,a cameo for the Crack AU but I will say I’m getting far too attached to their character to better NOT explore them more in a more intricate backstory kind of sense! Many of the asks I’ve answered previously about Crusade’s personality and future are still canon—with the exemption that Crusade has a far more present/loving relationship with their Carrier, who as a literal helicopter parent is near suffocating in his protectiveness and efforts to keep his sparkling away from the hands and influence of the Autobots, even if that means locking them away on the Nemesis far too much to be healthy, and lying straight to their face, and others, about their origins.

Since the TFN 2021 S4 kickoff script reading I’ve been leaning towards guess what—a whole other AU that continues RIGHT after that point, much like where the CF AU would—only certain rescission within the timeline have been changed leading to, in some relationships, a vastly different setting for a next generation! (No, I don’t think I’d create a whole ton of other sparklings in place, for example a planned Strika/Lugnut kiddo wouldn’t happen for obvious reasons, nor would Shmaus or Envoy exist!! Who would remain, THAT I will figure out later down the line.) So Megatron is not in his Marauder form, Optimus is named Magnus, Jazz is with team Prime/Ninja Corps, Sentinel is still a dick figures, Prowl is still dead and so forth.

What I have planned is sort of like where the Deceptions sport a retreat after their bust on Earth when attempting to take over the central line of techno organic energon. The Cons faced losses, high command was scrambled and still very much injured from their cruel, and unusual keeping within Trypticon, heavy sacrifices turned out to NOT reap greater rewards, and the troops are still starving—and starving, scared mecha are far more dangerous than angry ones.

Optimus is still coming to terms that he is due to lead Cybertron, under the title of Optimus Magnus as soon as he’s back, whether he likes it or not as the front lines are still very much on edge with the evermore increasingly violent rouge Con raids.

I made some commentary on the reading as a whole which was PHENOMENAL and I’m still riding the high that is the fanTASTIC work that was put into is, like god. There was a brief but hilarious moment from Rattletrap where he attempted to sell off a crudely photoshopped Megop photograph as dirt—a part of me thought it would be even MORE hilarious if said photo was actually, used and Op was left sputtering after a double take going like how did they find that. HOW.

My poor, poor fanfic loving heart got going on of course the What if the Enemies Were Fraternizing Throughout the Whole of The Show, Morals be Damned in Those Stolen Moments Because I Like YOU For Some Reason trope. Wow is me, be still my beating HEART. It did not stop—so I made another AU :D yayyyyy

Basically the creation of Crusade follows along in this timeline in that sense. They were a product of one too many lonely nights in some far off abandoned cave that never could quite seem to end with a civil conversation, let alone spark apprehension from the other when it came to going toe to toe of the battlefield for the sake of their Causes. A Comfort without Strings relationship, even if they did come to grow fond of each other, not that they’d ever admit it—a confession, in a sense, would only hurt both parties knowing that the two would never give up their motivations in the ‘impossible ‘case that said feelings were mutual.

From the looks of it, the Autobots did not once tend to the Deceptions during their stay at Trypticon. Megs still sported bare struts and tattered armor up to his escape—it would be believable that medics never once ran scans, let alone were ordered to get anywhere near the high command. With already being in such poor shape, battered, humiliated, starved, violated (those minicons?? homage to Trepan??? yikessssss) and sedated—it would be believable that Megatron wouldn’t pay notice to a small flutter in his spark amongst all the pain and anxiety, at least until he finally could gather his bearings under the lockdown of his temporary fortress stuck on Earth.

Megatron, knowing he was alone, now extremely vulnerable, heavily outnumbered and out favored by his remaining struggling troops, called upon his definitely not most favorite sub team to cower behind—the DJD, to meet his blaring distress beacon.

Tarn and his crew, with the help of the rest of high command’s signal dampeners, are able to as covertly as possible—minus the world sweeper size of the Peaceful Tyranny and the paralyzing droning on of the Empyrean Suite that Tarn just loves so dearly—made it off planet save for a few bumps and bruises from the small force of Team Prime. The High & Mighty Megatron was no where to be seen in the action. Probably off in a hurry to lick his wounds in retreat after getting his ass handed to him, many assumed, but Nickel knew better. Tarn knew better. Something was terribly wrong in order to resort to a ‘cowardly’ extraction and evasion mission.

You can see where I’m going w this—so anyways YES that is the general gist of where this AU kicks off!!! Megs and Op, particularly Megs, got unlucky on their last night together—eventually all leading to the introduction of the previously secretive back up weapon that was the DJD. Coming to the rescue of their Fearless, All Powerful, and Resilient Leader?? A strange, but instantly understandable measure to resort to once Megatron reveals himself as a carrying mech, the beholder of a true heir and a testament to the resilience that is the Deceptions though the terrible reign the Autobots have held against them through the eons.

I’ll go into why he keeps Crusade on a tight leash and Op out of the loop entirely for as long as he possibly could—and how the rest of Megaton’s troops behaved around this clearly, half blooded Con sparkling their leader doted on— later!

Needless to say, Crusade’s reputation from the moment they were born was tottering on a fine line between that of pitiable condolences for their leader, and that of true Decepticon pride knowing that the one to lead them to glory some day is none other than one of the Autobots’ very own descendants.

Hope that kinda better explains things! I like Meg’s Cybertronian design, it’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s easier to draw, and since S4 gave us a fresher design to admire of Optimus, why not have the same for his other half!

YEAHH. so new AU :D AYOOOO I’ll tag this timeline/future mentionings of Crusade and their journey as Cybertron’s Legacy AU

extremely stupid doodle under the cut! I can’t get over the duality of Old Written vs New Written Crusade ahhh 💀💀

I found a horrifically perfect tik tok audio for these two oml

Swapping Megatron stories!

[decepticon-spydrone]

Concerning Getaway

Getaway. I’ve hated him since long before Dying of the Light. Even before The Broken Triangle. But we’re not going to talk about him in those today. We’re going to talk about what we found out about him in Lost Light #10.

Let’s start with the obvious stuff: the lies and the manipulation. I mean, let’s be honest, he’s been an expert at this since he joined the ship. But here, he’s in rare form.

Look at how artfully he dodges any question concerning anything that’s obviously wrong or out of place with the ship. Is it just me, or has he gotten BETTER at this? That is an extremely disturbing thought.

As a side note, A+ to Atomizer for keeping up so effectively with him. He gets a Getaway Star.

Then comes the point where he can’t avoid it anymore, and he lies so casually you almost want to believe him:

The lie he (and the rest of the crew) tells is so ridiculous, so OBVIOUSLY out of character for the people he’s telling it about, that it’s no wonder that First Aid is already getting super suspicious. I’m more concerned with the fact that despite his efforts he doesn’t look upset AT ALL about any of it. Not a shred of guilt to be found.

At first I thought maybe it’s because he’s convinced they’re safe, so there’s nothing to be concerned about. And then this happens:

Riptide has no reason to know about the DJD having been involved. Unless it was actually part of the plan.

I was among the people who thought the Galactic Council was the only ones Getaway dealt with. But the only way Riptide could have ever known about them having shown up on Necroworld was if it had been part of Getaway’s plan. Meaning despite what we thought all this time, Getaway really WAS responsible for the DJD’s involvement.

And even if we may think that it’s just a big misunderstanding, two new developments pop up.

What he did with Thunderclash for one. This one I suppose can be at least a little forgiven. Better Thunderclash be stuck in a Memory Loop than dead, right? Not as bad of mind-fuckery as some of the others in this series have suffered.

AND THEN THIS HAPPENS:

WHAT. THE ACTUAL. FUCK. GETAWAY?!

I don’t see how this can possibly be rationalized in a way that will make Getaway sympathetic. At all. He hid it away in Swerve’s bar, presumably from the rest of the crew. We know several people are missing other than Rodimus’s team, so this is presumably the others that are missing. Until we know what’s going on, though, it’s impossible to know what’s up with this exactly. All I know is it’s sick and wrong.

So, let’s recap. He’s lying, manipulating, usurped the last person in charge so he could lead, turned a crew of loyal Autobots into liars as well, hiding what can be assumed to be horrific experiments, and he used the DJD as AT LEAST the executioners for Megatron. So... anyone else see a bit of a parallel of him becoming the person he rationalized doing all of this to get rid of specifically? Hint: I’ve already mentioned the person’s name once in this paragraph.

On one hand, I’m glad this finally proved something I’ve said before. That Getaway doing all this had nothing to do with Megatron. It was proven by Atomizer presenting Rodimus with the “list of people who voted him off” (which we know was bull) BEFORE Megatron was announced to become a member of the crew. Getaway has always had plans to usurp Rodimus and take over. He’s not a noble mech who did the wrong things for the right reasons. He’s an awful person who just wants to prove he’s better than Rodimus.

On the other, I kind of wanted him to be a more morally grey villain. Someone who DID do the wrong thing for the right reason. It would have made him an interesting and dynamic villain for this series. But, alas, it seems he’s leaning more towards the mustache-twirling variety.

In conclusion, let’s watch Mirage hit him with a glass to the face again, because this lying asshat deserves it:

[scraplette]

Details

Rating: General Audiences

Ao3 Linkage

Archive Warning: Mentions of canon typical violence but nothing graphic.  

Characters: Ratchet, First Aid

Summary: In the aftermath of the Red rust virus, ratchet asks a favour of First Aid. However, before anything can be done a few details need to be discussed.

Notes: I think enough time has passed for me to post my story featured in @projecttfzine. It was such am honour to be included in this book featuring so many talented artists and authors, and all for an excellent cause.

Whether or not you believed in Primus or the idea of intelligent design, there was no denying that Ratchet's hands were a work of art. Trained at the prestigious Iaconian Academy of Science and Technology, he'd gone on to hone those skills on and off the battlefield for untold millennia, earning the distinction and honour of being the only medic to save the lives of multiple Primes, whether they deserved it or not.

Medics, Autobot and Decepticon alike, traded whispered tales about Ratchet and his fabled hands. And while not all of them were true each and every story was told with equal amounts awe and respect, and often with a generous dose of fear.

Which was why First Aid couldn't believe what he was hearing. “You want your hands removed?”

Ratchet, as if he'd been expecting this reaction, sighed. “I know I'm practically falling apart but my vocoder is still in good nick.”

First Aid's visor flickered wildly as his mind raced for something to say. Unfortunately all he could manage was a spluttered, and thoroughly uninspired “But they're you hands!”

“Indeed they are. So, I think I get a pretty big say in what happens to them.”

“There are treatments we can try-”

“Don't.” First Aid flinched. “Neither of us are idiots. And neither was Pharma. Say what you want about him but I can't deny he made himself quite an effective virus...”

If First Aid was intimidated at all by Ratchet's heated scowl then he wasn't showing it. He stepped up beside the medical slab and took a gentle hold of one of Ratchet's ruined hands. Despite his earlier mention of possible treatments he knew, deep down, that Ratchet's hands were beyond saving.

The once vibrant plating was now a faded grey, criss-crossed by jagged cracks. He stroked his thumb oh so carefully over the back of Ratchet's palm but even that gentle movement caused flecks of rust and faded paint to peel and flake, and fall silently onto the medical slab. It was almost enough to make First Aid weep.

Not trusting his own twitching grip, First Aid lowered the hand back to the slab. “If we'd only gotten the vaccine sooner.”

Ratchet snorted and First Aid looked up to catch the briefest flash of a bitter smile. “Please, my hands were already on their way out. Pharma's bug merely sped things up.” he pulled he hands into his lap, resting them across the tops of his thighs.

Something seemed off. First Aid had been a doctor for many years. From general practice right through to battlefield medic, he had the unfortunate duty of breaking bad news to a great many patients. Everyone reacted differently. Some raged against the prognosis. Others pleaded, hoping for some sort of mistake or clerical error. Then there were those who accepted the news with nary a reaction, as if their spark had already extinguished, leaving nothing more than fumes to propel their failing frame.

But Ratchet was reacting with his usual gruff and snark. No raging, pleading or terrible silence.

First Aid's visor narrowed as he fixed the CMO with a searching gaze.“I must admit,” he began, easing into conversation with as much tact as possible. “I'm surprised at how well you're taking this.

“Well, I've always been a bit of a pragmatist. Looking forward and all that. Plus, it won't really be an issue once you replace these useless lumps for Pharma's.” First Aid didn't react but the sudden tension in his frame was hard to miss. The older medic huffed. “Oh, don't give me that look. It's not like he'll be needing them any more,” he tried to cross his arms across his chest but gave up when his hands awkwardly bumped against each other, settling instead for resting them in his lap again.

“Tha- That's not the point!”

“It's not?

First Aid blinked. “Okay, in a way it is. But a procedure like that requires two medics.” he paused, waiting- hoping - for a reaction from Ratchet. None came. “I'm just a nurse...” he admitted, suddenly unable to face the other bot.

Obsessive compulsive tendencies. The words still stung even when voiced in the privacy of his own thoughts. First Aid knew the reasons for his odd behaviour- and would take that secret with him to the Allspark - but he couldn't blame Rung for his final diagnosis or the resulting demotion. He'd been so quick to accept Springer's mission. But while he had the skills necessary to check the damaged Autobrands, he'd lacked the subtlety needed to carry out such a task unnoticed. No, First Aid had no one but himself and his own starstruck eagerness to thank for that.  

A gentle nudge against his forearm pulled First Aid back to the present. “I head about your demotion,” the older bot said with surprising gentleness. “As Autobot CMO I think I can probably do something about that...” he let the promise hang tantalisingly but First Aid was hesitant to reach for it just yet.

First Aid went still, again. “Why me?”

Ratchet shrugged. “I got my reasons.”

Goodness, that didn't sound ominous at all. “Do I get to hear these reasons?” He raised an optic ridge.

“Maybe later,” Ratchet said, putting a stop to any protest First Aid might have had with a single look. “Right now, you and I need to go over some details.”

First Aid frowned. “We do? It's a fairly simple procedure.” So simple in fact, that First Aid was certain he could do the operation with his hands fused together. Next to basic maintenance and minor Nucleon poisoning, it was the most common injury type that the Delphi facility dealt with.

Ratchet nodded, obviously agreeing with him. “True, but you worked closely with Pharma for a number of years. Before we do anything I need to know you're comfortable with this.”

Although said with that same gentleness from earlier, First Aid still visibly flinched at Ratchet's words.

Was he okay with this? Limb recycling was a common practice but it was usually done with the patient's prior consent. Something Pharma doubtfully had time to give as he'd plummeted to his apparent death. If nothing had happened. If Pharma's deal with the DJD, and the Virus had been nothing more than a nightmare then yes, First Aid would've had some doubts about this procedure. But it had happened. Pharma, through an act of sheer desperation, had doomed them all. Killing his patients and then, in a final act of cruelty, mutilating their cooling frames for their Tcogs, all so a sociopathic monster could get his latest fix. It made his inner most energon boil knowing that someone he'd once respected and admired had let him down so spectacularly.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. “I... Ratchet. May I speak frankly for a moment?”

There was a short moment of silence. First Aid wondered if he'd someone offended the other medic and was about to apologise when Ratchet finally responded. “I'd prefer it. Go on.”

Although he'd been permitted to speak First Aid had to push down the sudden rush of anxiety that filled his spark.  If it weren't for Ratchet, and the other members of this Lost Light crew, things would've gone a lot differently. No ifs or buts. Everyone would be dead, with only his encrypted patient data floating about the subspace network as a vague clue to the truth.

The last possible thing he wanted to do was offend Ratchet. He raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I mean... I might have worked with Pharma but you...” Dammit! Just say it! “You were his friend. I think? He used to talk about you. A lot, actually.”

Ratchet was famous for his sharp wit and just as deadly temper. So First Aid braced himself for a cutting rebuttal. Instead, he heard a sound so rare that many doubted it even existed. Ratchet laughed. “Ha! Did he now? How many of those times started with the phrase 'I'm a better medic than Ratchet and here's why'” his voice took on an haughty edge in a near-perfect impression of Pharma's former speech patterns.  

“Not all of them...” First Aid said, meekly.

“Yeah. I thought as much.” Ratchet smiled but it didn't quite reach his optics, which had dimmed to a dark blue.

Again, he wondered how Ratchet could remain so calm when faced with such a personal betrayal. “I'm sorry, sir.” he apologised.

“Don't be. I appreciate your honestly. It's something we're in short supply of these days.” Ratchet sank into the medical-grade padding with a deep sigh. “My hands are failing. And while it doesn't change what he did, Pharma was a great doctor. It seems a shame to waste a perfectly good pair of hands, especially if I can do some good with them.” There was a tightness to his expression as he frowned. “Something good needs to come from this...”

First Aid, not trusting himself to speak, could only nod in silent agreement.

The sombre silence was broken by an abrupt snap and then a plink as something hit the floor. Looking down, First Aid vents stalled. “Is that...?”

“Yes, that is my index finger.”

“Oh.”

“Maybe we should push forward that surgery time. Hm?”

“Ah, yes. I think that's a good idea.”

[befirstapp-blog]

Applying Neuro Performance to ATHLETES

Neuro performance sounds cool right? Sounds flash, we would know, we use the term a lot. But it is really coming out that nobody actually knows what it is. How does the Brain ACTUALLY affect performance? How can we find out whats going on?

Do you realise that presently EVERYONE is spending their time on variations of information that the brain cares about the LEAST? The voluntary movements involved in proprioceptive training alone?

Yes thats right. We call it the 10 Percent. Thats 10 percent of what is important. The other 90 is not assessed, tested or even trained, at the very least not in a targeted accurate way. It is being left to chance and the ONLY reason this is happening is lack of knowledge and understanding in how the BRAIN affects an athletes body and performance.

So we will break it down. Into the parts that matter, what they do and what happens to an athlete when these parts don’t function optimally.

Read on if you are game. Beware the can of worms though.

PMRF

The Ponto Medullary Reticular Formation (PMRF) does the following,

Inhibits pain on the same side of the body. SO the right side of the PMRF inhibits pain on the RIGHT side of the body.

2. Autonomics - Controls Sympathetic activity on the same side of the body. Meaning the heart rate can be increased, blood pressure, sweating, temperature. Basically how jacked you are.

3. Posture -Inhibits the same side anterior (front of the body) muscles above T6 / and it inhibits the posterior (back of the body) muscles below T6

4. Muscle Tone–Works with ipsilateral (same side) cerebellum to set global muscle tone.

So what right? Well take a look below. Issues with the PMRF don’t mean that your brain is broken. It will just show that there is a functionality issue with part of a part of it.

For example, say your issue with your PMRF causes your sympathetics to increase. This means your blood pressure, heart rate and sweating (on one side of your body which is super weird) all increase. Your body is in more of a fight or flight mode or what is sometimes called sympathetic dominance. This is bad news for athletic performance. Your recovery is poor, along with your sleep and your appetite and your digestion. Plus you keep sweating and its gross. In come overtraining symptoms, not to mention the injuries…Read on….

Remember that your brain sets the tone for all your muscles. Like an overprotective mother it decides how much activation you can get before hurting yourself and it always errs on the side of caution. The brain can activate or inhibit how much muscle it likes as it decides what is safest for you. We are wired for survival. Your brain (MOM) knows too much is a risk as well as too little.

Calm down this does not mean that you suddenly cant use your legs because your brain has freaked out and turned the muscles off. What it means is your muscles are capable of a lot more than the brain will let them do. Its like having a brick under your accelerator.

Having an issue with your PMRF results in not only the brick under the accelerator, but therefore in biomechanical issues too. Remember which muscles it controls? You CAN NOT have optimal neural drive to your muscles if you have an imbalance in the amount of activation and inhibition in order to use them to move, lift, do life. You have jacked sympathetics, poor brain integration and thats when the injuries come. They keep on coming too. Always that same side right? That same foot, knee, hamstring issue that wont go away. How many times have you heard an athlete say “my back is playing up again”

If you identify with some of this and you have felt that frustration with your training just feeling ‘off’, lifts taking a long time to progress, and fatigue that is hard to escape no matter how many green juices you drink, then read on. You HAVE to look at the brain loop.

Yes thats the brain loop. We tried to make it as simple as possible in diagram form and the result is that its just not that simple. But if you really want to understand your body then look again and think of it like a map for where the messages need to go. Messages in the brain are how we function. We are only able to function at all because of these messages.

Other Brain Parts that MATTER

Yes its getting a little heavy now. Your brain is a complex piece of material and all parts matter in the puzzle. Once piece not working effectively just starts to mess up the rest of the system like dominoes.

Cortex (in blue in the diagram)

Frontal Lobe (part of the cortex) and responsible for,

Planing and executing movements, pretty vital for athletes

Controlling posture

Integration of the information coming from the senses (visual and vestibular are what you need to pay attention to here)

Decision making — pass or not pass? which way to move? etc

Saccadic eye movment — moving the eyes from one object to another — ball to goal, player to player, etc

Parietal Lobe

Receives processes & integrates sensory information

Awareness of your body in space

Temporal Lobe

Main audio system where you interpret & integrate audio data

High level visual processing

Occipital Lobe

Primary Visual Cortex

Where sight happens. Obviously important.

Now we will mention here that while this is not a lesson on the anatomy of the brain, and it can get pretty complicated, its important to understand that these parts of the brain are always TALKING to each other. So if one has an issue or deficit as we like to say, then the information getting to the next part of the brain is not accurate, then THAT part of the brain can’t feed forward accurate information. Your brain is playing Chinese whispers and you are wondering why you just got hit by that tackle again from that same guy on that same side. Its an issue with the INFORMATION. Of course you can SEE but can your brain get that information from your eyes properly? Thats where it matters.

Cerebellum

Here are the 4 MAIN jobs of the Cerebellum

Maintenance of Balance and Posture

Coordination of Voluntary Movements — movments you decide to do.

Motor Learning — learning new movements.

Cognitive Functions — thought and understanding.

To make it REALLY simple the Cerellum is responsible for

Accuracy

Balance

Coordination

If you have any deficits in the above areas it will impact your performance MASSIVELY. We can not be more clear about that. If you are an athlete that is under high level coaching and you have a strength guy and a physio and a massage person and a nutritionist and a high performance manager and a sports psychologist and a sports doctor and a guy thats always around that just has ‘heaps of experience’ and a facility and a sponsor and the best gear. SO WHAT if your brain isnt optimal. Literally SO WHAT. If the messages in your brain loops are not optimal then none of the other stuff you have at your disposal matters squat.

Your brain CONTROLS everything. Yet in sports today, everyone loves to debate about deadlifting technique and strapping ankles and whether or not squatting makes people run faster. Thats all great to have, and if you happen to have the best of all the above then thats fantastic. BUT whats your brain doing? Because thats the part that will control the result at the end of the day. Your brain could throw you under the bus UNLESS you understand more how it works and what it needs to get you optimal performance.

IF you have a frontal lobe deficit your eye movements may be inaccurate. Your decision making is poor, your motor output is decreased and your sensory motor integration is sub optimal.

IF your parietal lobe is dysfunctional you may have reoccurring injuries, decreased spatial awareness and decreased motor output.

Its VERY hard to have maximum neural efficency with poor signals between the parietal lobe and frontal lobe.

IF your temporal lobe has a deficit you may struggle with memory issues and audio processing which is a major issue when your sport involves audio starts or commmunication in your sporting arena.

IF your Cerebellum is not optimal this is going to impact your accuracy balance and co-ordination. Yes you need those. You can also struggle with muscular issues within the extensor muscles. You need those as well.

The cerebellum is a major integrator in performance. It accounts for approximately 10% of the brains volume, but contains over 50% of the total number of neurons in the brain. So its smaller but the population of neurons talking to each other is higher. Like a busy city with a lot of traffic. Its a HUB when it comes to athletes.

Have you specifically TRAINED your cerebellum lately? NO, NO you havent.

NOW here is what you wanted to see. What do the injuries look like?

Predisposed conditions due to deficits in the CORTEX and PMRF

rotator cuff impingement or tendonitis

thoracic outlet syndrome

lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)

median & ulnar nerve entrapment

piriformis syndrome (due to tight glutes)

PFPS

common peroneal neuropathy

plantar fasciitis & bunions

medial epicondylitis (golfers elbow)

radial nerve entrapments

IT syndrome, trochanteric bursitis, hip DJD

piriformis syndrome (due to weak glutes)

patella — femoral pain syndrome (PFPS)

Possible abnormal spinal posture

May have RIGHT or LEFT head tilt depending on the side of the deficit

May have scoliosis

We are not saying physio and all that other stuff you are doing related to injury does not have its place. BUT what is the CAUSE of the issue and what is the bandaid? Underlying issues that begin in the brain wont go away. Re occuring injuries keep coming back for a reason. You may not have tennis elbow just because you play tennis afterall.

Basic Motor Control and Postural Pathways.

Take a look at the brainstem below. The Brainstem is made up of the Midbrain, Pons and Medulla.

See how much information is running through there? Its like an airport. Or a motorway. Information (hopefully accurate information) is coming from the Cerebellum, heading through the Thalamus and is relayed to the Motor Cortex.

Now take a look a the nice colorful lines showing the tracts out of the motor cortex. The RED, GREEN, ORANGE, BLUE and YELLOW are the ones nobody is really focusing on when it comes to training. Take a look at the PURPLE one. THIS is the one everybody, probably unknowingly is focused on training.

Equate that to a road in spaghetti junction getting worked on all the time. All the maintenance is on that PURPLE road. The others could have transport issues but because we don’t TEST or CHECK them we wouldnt really know. So we keep working on the PURPLE road hoping to get the result we want. LOOK at the amount of information that we could be missing. This causes issues for people!

Heres a real example. That BLUE line there, thats your vestibular information. How often are you specifically and accurately training your vestibular system directly for your sport? No your not doing that either. NO, NO your not. NOT in a targted and specific fashion. If you think you are, email us, and well be honest with you.

Visual and Vestibular Gives You SO Much Bang For Your BUCK

That poor negleted blue road of yours could really help you out in your performance. Remember thats your vestibular information. Yes balance. This works very closely with visual information and they are both so vital its rediculous. Remember we are wired for survival right? Your brain REALLY wants your vestibular and visual system to send accurate information in. The problem is they most likely do NOT do that.

Visual and vestibular information ranks very highly in the brain. Imagine the new and improved food pyramid and put vision at the top and vestibular underneath that. Guess where proprioception is? Yes at the bottom. Still important yes of course but visual and vestibular rank higher. So specific vision and vestiubular training is VITAL for athletes who want to get better. Not only because you have been neglecting your BLUE road but also because your brain ranks them so highly that training them might acutally get the brain to take that brick out from under the accelerator. Why? becuase the INFORMATION coming from well trained visual and vestibular systems is more trustworthy. Its accurate, it comes in quicker PLUS the BLUE road is being used more and the associated pathways are stronger.

How does this look in your sport? Well you may win more. You’ll probably find playing your sport is easier, smoother, you’re faster and time seems to slow down a bit. You see things quicker and your balance is better. You might describe it as being ‘in the ZONE’. You’re not in the matrix but you just have more time to process all that information faster because you have been training your brain over and over to process that information so it got better at it.

We are speaking from experience here too. Just know, we have tested hundreds of athletes, a lot at elite level. We’re talking olympics, world champs and top teams. They ALL had visual and vestibular deficits. This is not made up from a combination of YouTube videos on neuroscience and wikipeida articles. This is the real deal. The BRAIN matters.

Visual Needs

The below are VITAL visual needs for all athletes

Gaze stabilisation

Visual endurance

Fusion/convergernce

Ocular motor skills

Dynamic visual acuity

Eye hand co ordination

Saccades

Static vs dynamic

Depth perception

Central/ peripheral awareness

Contrast

Target size

Visual memory

Flexibility

Visual memory

Pursuits

Vestibular

Vergence

Accomodation

Eye foot co ordination

Yes that is a lot of visual needs. Yes you might have to somehow fit it all in if you really want to start paying attention to the roads in the brain that matter a lot to your performance.

We understand this may have been a slap in the face for you.

You were warned about the can of worms. But the take away here is that performance really is about the BRAIN. Thats the governing system. Try to squat without your brain, or pick up your ball, or raquet, or say your name. We get that sounds dramatic but it really is to illustrate that you are nothing without your brain. EVERYTHING is integrated. It needs specific training. ALL roads leading to that spaghetti junctinon and out of it again, need to be well looked after. Those pathways need to be amazing if you want to be amazing. Change the way you think about how your body is achieving all this.

What is it going to take for you to get the brick out from under your accelerator? Your brain is the FOUNDATION for ALL your performance. You cannot shoot a cannon from a canoe.

It is time for high performance in all sports to wake up and smell the neurons.

www.be-first.co

Email — hi@be-first.co