Four Steps to Skill Acquisition

Your Brain. Use it or lose it!!

We’ve all heard it before: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT! But why is practice actually that important?

“Neuroplasticity” is the brain’s ability to reorganize and create new neural connections as it processes new information.  This process occurs throughout your life although the rate may slow a bit as you age.

If you think of your brain like a muscle, it needs to be exercised like the rest of your body in order to make these neural connections.  The more repetitions of exercise that you do, the stronger your brain gets and more connections you make.  This is a crucial component to learning a new skill, changing a movement pattern or modifying a bad habit.

When you learn a new skill or change a bad habit, you must go through the following 4 steps before it’s integrated into your body:

1. Unconsciously incompetent

You don’t know you’re doing something wrong

2. Consciously incompetent

Awareness of the bad habit or absent skill

3. Consciously competent

Effortful performance of good habit or new skill

4. Unconsciously competent

New skill or habit is integrated into daily subconscious life

The progression from step 3 to 4 can be the most challenging as you are forming new neural connections and establishing new patterns.

Practice and LOTS of repetition are the most effective ways to integrate your new skill

…..and within time, you will realise that you are doing the right thing without even having to think about it!

All the more reason to do you physio exercises and postural corrections!!!

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Annie Strauch