Kinetic Intelligence

Note:  An edited version of this essay originally appeared in the July ’06 issue of Inside Triathlon Magazine.

When triathlon first landed on our planet in 1978 – on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu in the form of Ironman – it was a strange alien indeed.  The idea of swimming, biking and running a total of 140.6 miles was likened to a refrigerator-throwing contest.  The media scoffed at such a folly and ignored our noble pioneers.  Well…things have changed since then – tremendously.

Triathlon has transformed from a fringe-lunatic cult activity to an internationally recognized benchmark of elite athletic accomplishment.  With exploding popularity, it has permeated the masses as an inspiring vehicle of rebirth and redemption for couch potatoes worldwide.  We’ve made it to the Olympics and have seen the greatest Tour de France champion of all time rise from our ranks.  Our sport has nurtured mythic accomplishments and produced legendary heroes – among them 50-year-old Joe Bonness, who can average sub-10-hour finishes for 3 iron-distance tri’s in 3 consecutive weeks.

Our approach to training, racing, equipment and nutrition continues to improve rapidly through the investment of scientific resources, technological innovation and creative brilliance.  Well ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your swim caps, bike helmets and running hats because triathlon is about to enter a vast new era – a breakthrough in human evolution.  (OK, maybe we are a little “tri-centric” in our worldview.)

Until now the two greatest assets for the disciplined athlete have been genetic potential and a comprehensive training program to maximize that potential.  At this moment we are beginning to recognize and develop a new resource, one that promises to revolutionize our sport yet again – and many others as well.  This new asset is kinetic intelligence.

OK, this thing I herald as “kinetic intelligence” is really not a new discovery at all.  We exercise kinetic intelligence (most often unconsciously) every time we walk, climb the steps, pick up an infant child or open the refrigerator door and reach for a snack.  In our daily lives, we take this form of intelligence for granted.  We assume our motor-skills are fully developed by the time we’re “grown-up”.

In the next few years we will see a renaissance in our appreciation and application of kinetic intelligence towards excellence in our sport.  (We are beginning to see it now.)  We will place greater emphasis on developing kinetic intelligence in our training as triathletes.  We will focus more on swimming, biking and running intelligently – with more efficiency, grace and economy – to reduce our exertion levels and our time investment in training, and yet improve our performances and further minimize our recovery time and rate of injury.

To earnestly develop this powerful resource we must first define it and identify specific elements of kinetic intelligence that we can improve through training:  A simple definition: Kinetic intelligence is our capacity to perform a given physical task with minimal energy expenditure and minimal stress.  (It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how valuable this capacity might be over the course of, say, a 140-mile race.)  Yes.  This form of intelligence is radically different from our conventional notion of intelligence as the “purely mental” power of reasoning and logic.  While we may regard logical intelligence as the most essential tool for success, security and survival in our modern world of economics, business and information, we could not function in our daily lives without basic kinetic intelligence.

There is a profound difference between logical intelligence and kinetic intelligence.  Our logical form operates through a linear sequential format – surfacing in our brains as an endless string of verbal commentary produced by that “little voice” in the back of the brain that somehow disassociates itself from the body.  Because this commentary is relentless, our kinetic intelligence is overshadowed and relegated to some unconscious level in our brain.  As an undergraduate college student, my chosen field of study changed that condition profoundly.  Twenty-five years later, I still feel that studying Modern Dance developed far more intelligence than any other collegiate pursuit.

If kinetic intelligence is the capacity to perform a given physical task with minimal energy expenditure, then what are the elements that comprise this intelligence?  How can we improve these elements to enhance our athletic performances and our functional daily lives?  To begin this investigation, lets identify some of the variables that are relevant to each physical task:  These include the speed of our movements, the duration required to accomplish the task, the physical and environmental characteristics – such as weight, size, distance, temperature, elevation slope, etc. – and the complexity of the task. 

Our physiological capacity to complete the task is comprised of our muscular strength, our metabolic (aerobic) capacity and our neuromuscular coordination.  Another highly significant (and often overlooked) element is our perceptive capacity – our ability to accurately observe the conditions relevant to accomplishing the task and their interrelationships, along with our body’s relationship to those conditions. To summarize, kinetic intelligence includes both physical and mental attributes.  If we wish to develop kinetic intelligence, we must improve these physical and mental attributes and their integration with one another.

Currently, we focus most of our athletic training on improving muscular strength and aerobic capacity.  Little, if any, of our athletic training directly addresses the neurological system.  However, according to Dr. Phillip Maffetone, this neurological system responds and improves much more to training than the metabolic or muscular systems.  (In fact, the muscular system responds and improves the least.)

Just how relevant is neurological system development to endurance athletics?  Consider that most professional triathletes who compete in iron-distance races usually don’t achieve peak performances until their mid-30’s – instead of their aerobically “fresher” 20’s.  The additional gain in kinetic intelligence during that decade surpasses the aerobic loss.  Imagine what will be possible as we focus on developing and implementing training techniques that specifically address neurological development. 

In conventional athletic training, we strengthen our metabolic system through aerobic activity, our muscular system though resistance training and our neurological system through sport-specific drills to improve our form and technique.  It is essential to recognize that these three physiological systems are interdependent – we do not train one without affecting the other two.  Integration is the key – training and developing an integrated neuromuscular system is the foundation of kinetic intelligence.  We are beginning to address this integration with one of the latest trends in endurance athletics: functional strength – an effective integration of muscular strength with neurological coordination and balance.  Through this and other approaches, we develop “stability, agility and mobility”, a phrase I credit to the C.H.E.K. Institute – an innovative leader in functional strength education.

In the coming years, training techniques that help us to integrate our mental and physical resources – to develop kinetic intelligence and to experience mind in matter – will gain significant popularity in the field of conventional triathlon training.  The first essential step in developing kinetic intelligence – and currently, the most overlooked element of this integration – is something I call “inner listening”.  As we develop our inner listening ability, we can enhance our “proprioception” – our ability to perceive the location, orientation, condition and movement of our many muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints.  In simple terms, proprioception is coordination.  Coordination yields grace, economy, efficiency and speed, and it orients us on the path of effortless power.

Grace, efficiency, speed, effortless power – it all begins with inner listening.  At the heart of inner listening is inner silence. Without inner silence, the accuracy and precision of our observations – in this case listening to the body – is compromised.  It starts when we disengage from the relentless commentary produced by that “little voice” in the back of our heads. Inner listening starts when we find the “volume control” for that little voice.  We are then able to shift our focus away from the linear sequential format of our logical intelligence.  As simple as it sounds, this process of disengaging and shifting – of turning down the volume – is most illusive and challenging.  However, it is precisely this liberation from the relentless commentary and the freedom we discover in the vast spatial awareness and intelligence of kinetic activity that inspires and motivates many athletes to train and race.  Tapping into our kinetic intelligence is an elixir for aliveness – and it slows the aging process!

We most effectively develop and strengthen our skill of inner listening through meditation.  “Oh no not that New Age M-word!  How can such a passive, boring and starkly simple activity possibly improve our athletic performance?  There is no physical challenge, no quantifiable output – just the simple act of sitting still and breathing consciously.  Yuck!”  Yes, this investment of our valuable time defies all logic – but it is precisely this logic we are learning to disengage from.  Various forms of meditation – conventional sitting meditation, yoga, Tai chi and Qi gong, to name a few – are gaining significance as effective athletic training techniques – techniques for developing kinetic intelligence.

Improving our capacity to accurately observe and respond to the myriad stimuli our bodies produce during athletic activity – through the skill of inner listening – is the first crucial step towards developing kinetic intelligence.  Along with this power of precise observation through inner listening, kinetic intelligence requires functional (intelligent) strength, proprioceptive skills and coordination, as well as mobility and flexibility of the joints, muscles and connective tissues.  As we devote more time and energy to these elements in our training, we will see astounding performance breakthroughs.

The bottom line for kinetic intelligence?  An intimate and harmonious integration of mind and body – mind in matter.  This is profoundly different than our conventional logically-based approach of “mind over matter”.  The cellular intelligence of the body extends far beyond the linear sequential format of our logical intelligence.  Our bodies beg for opportunities to demonstrate the functional brilliance of kinetic intelligence and the opportunity to re-format the evolution of human intelligence.

There are countless recollections from ancient times of feats of strength and endurance that defy our most advanced logic and modern science.  The shear number of these recollections denies a blanket discounting of them.  In modern times, we need only look as far as Sri Chinmoy for proof of what is possible through the integration of mind in matter.  As an orphan, Sri Chinmoy grew up in an ashram – a spiritual community in Sri Lanka – where he received much instruction in meditation, as well as a conventional education with athletic activity.  Along with incredible feats of endurance athletics and a vast array of creative artistic accomplishments in music, writing and the visual arts, he currently holds the world’s weight lifting record for the dead lift – a record he smashed, using only one arm!  Modern science figures that the bones in his arm should have been crushed, yet his record is official and his arm is healthy.

We must ask ourselves, beyond our logical constraints: What is possible?

 How do you fit into this breakthrough?  Consider what specific techniques – if any – you currently implement to improve the physical and mental aspects of kinetic intelligence – your inner listening ability, as well as your functional strength, proprioception and mobility/flexibility.  Review your personal training program to assess and identify them.  If you are new to the sport of triathlon, your main focus is developing aerobic capacity.  However, investing some of your time and energy in the pursuit of kinetic intelligence will yield positive results with less effort – maximizing your return.  If you are a veteran and you have an adequate aerobic base, you are probably focusing more on increasing your speed and perfecting your sport-specific techniques.  You are ripe for pioneering and exploring the vast and promising field of kinetic intelligence.

Triathlon and adventure racing – all multisports – are leading the field of endurance athletics in the development and application of kinetic intelligence.  Ours is a multidisciplinary activity that requires a high level of adaptability, proprioception, fluid transition and a diversity of specialized motor skills.  Kinetic intelligence is our most powerful tool for success and enjoyment in our sport(s).  In addition to athletic excellence, it can profoundly enhance our approach to everyday life – orienting us along the path of effortless power and harmony.

Copyright 2006 by Shane Alton Eversfield  (“Zendurance” is a registered trademark.)