Brain training through the body
Life Kinetik was established as a form of training 2004 by German sports scientist Horst Lutz.
Today there are over 4,000 trainers and teachers in 18 countries. The basis of this training method, which consists of more than 2000 exercises with millions of variations, is Horst thoughts on how it came to be that he
through concentration and training quickly
could improve their coordinative abilities.
-Why is it like that? -What is happening in
the brain because of the exercise? -What consequences do these improvements have on the rest of my life?
Life Kinetik
These questions led Horst to turn to research and the science of learning and neurology. Which gave him the insight that learning takes place through reorganization of the network of brain cells, new connections (synapses) of both existing and new brain cells. Through movement-based exercises and continuously new, foreign tasks, we stimulate neural training processes. The effect of coping with constantly new challenges helps to initiate structural changes in the brain.
The results of practicing Life Kinetik
are, among other things, reduced stress, increased ability to concentrate, easier to shut out disturbing impressions, better long-term and short-term memory, better decision-making, well-being and not least that it is fun. There have been a large number of scientific large and small studies that show very nice results. Some of these studies are available at Life Kinetik Sweden.
The recommendation from Life Kinetik is that the person exercising performs 6 sessions of 60 minutes over 6 weeks. The brain trainers' standard program is therefore 1 hour of trainer-led training per week for 6 weeks in groups of 4 - 10 people per trainer and occasion. In our online training, the standard program is 30 minutes of trainer-led training per week for 6 weeks in groups of 6 - 12 people per session.
In addition to this, we do both longer and customized programs based on wishes and possibilities.
For more information about our programs, contact us!
Research on the effect of Life Kinetics
Several scientific institutions have investigated the effects of Life Kinetics and here follows a selection of the published work:
Improved connectivity between different areas of the brain, University of Heidelberg
Department of Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim / Heidelberg University could in a study in 2014 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Gabriele Ende, using MRI images (magnetic resonance imaging) unequivocally demonstrated that Life Kinetik training improves the connectivity between different areas of the brain.
21 out of 32 healthy adults completed at least 11 Life Kinetik training sessions of 60 minutes during 13 weeks.
It could then be shown that the connections between the brain regions responsible for processing visual information and those that prepare and execute movements were strengthened (image c). Connectivity between the frontal eye region and visual cortex was also improved (image f, violet). In addition, the connection between the brain regions responsible for auditory awareness and motor coordination was strengthened (images d and e).
In addition, a growth could be illustrated in the connection between areas involved in the performance of cognitive tasks such as planning, execution and control of movements, and areas involved in working memory processing and error processing (images b and f). It was also found that the Life Kinetik training led to a significant growth in connectivity in areas responsible for visual-motor coordination (image a, red and cyan). This means that plastic changes in areas responsible for motor skills have been demonstrated.
With this study, it has thus been demonstrated that the completed Life Kinetik training has strengthened the connectivity between several brain regions.
It could be shown that intrinsic connectivity is an indicator of efficiency and that it correlates positively with cognitive ability and intelligence.
Motor and cognitive abilities in children.
In 2011, student teacher Florian Feltes investigated the effects of Life Kinetik on motor and cognitive abilities in children between the ages of 11 and 12, using the body coordination test for children KTK by Kiphard and Schilling and the test system for schools and educational councils PSB-R 6-13 by Horn (Feltes, 2011).
27 out of 53 children completed a 1-minute warm-up followed by a 5-minute Life Kinetik training session during 4 weeks, on all school days.
It could partly be shown thatthe cognitive ability, adjusted for the effect of repetition (1.1%),increased very strongly (by 15.3%)and tomotor performance(motor quotient MQ), also adjusted for the effect of repetition (1.8%),increased significantly, by 16.6%.Very remarkable isthe increase in the concentration factorwhich was measured toa whopping 77.1%.
Game tactical capacity of handball players, German Sports University of Cologne
Pascal Gras, a sports scientist at the German Sport University in Cologne, explored in the context of his thesis whether Life Kinetik training could improve handball players' game tactical capacity (Gras (2011).
From a group of 14 handball players from the 3rd league, which had been selected position-specifically as pairs, 7 of them were trained during 6 weeks a total of twelve times, where each training session was 60 minutes. Using a video test procedure and interactive voting system, he found that the Life Kinetik group had significantly improved indecision quality (by 4.8% and by exactly twice as much as the control group).Especially in decision speedthe players from the Life Kinetik group improved greatly(with 31.4%)etch thus almost three times as much as the control group).
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Abstract: This study investigated the impact of "Life Kinetik" training on brain plasticity in terms of an increased functional connectivity during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). The training is an integrated multimodal training that combines motor and cognitive aspects and challenges the brain by introducing new and unfamiliar coordinative tasks. Twenty-one subjects completed at least 11 one-hour-per-week "Life Kinetics" training sessions in 13 weeks as well as before and after rsfMRI scans. Additionally, 11 control subjects with 2 rs-fMRI scans were included. The CONN toolbox was used to conduct several seed-to-voxel analyses. We searched for functional connectivity increases between brain regions expected to be involved in the exercises. Connections to brain regions representing parts of the default mode network, such as medial frontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, did not change. Significant connectivity alterations occurred between the visual cortex and parts of the superior parietal area (BA7). Premotor area and cingulate gyrus were also affected. We can conclude that the constant challenge of unfamiliar combinations of coordination tasks, combined with visual perception and working memory demands, seems to induce brain plasticity expressed in enhanced connectivity strength of brain regions due to coactivation.