Reaction and attentiveness are possible. Why do you need a good reaction? What is a reaction

By reaction we mean a conscious response to a certain external influence; it is one of the manifestations of such physical quality like speed. Reaction speed is of great importance not only in sports, but also in everyday life, filled with stressful situations and man-made dangers. To know how to develop a reaction, you need to understand its components in the human body.

Types and structure of reaction

In psychology, reactions are divided into simple and complex. A simple reaction is a response to a single stimulus. A complex response involves responding to several stimuli simultaneously. Therefore, it is necessary to train both the body’s reaction to single stimuli and to multiple ones.

Any reaction has a certain structure, consisting of three components:

  • The preliminary period during which the signal is perceived.
  • The main, or latent period, during which the signal is realized.
  • The executive period, during which the response action occurs.

It follows from this that the speed of the reaction largely depends on the physiology of a particular person, that is, it is innate. For example, it is impossible to change the speed of a nerve impulse. At the same time, a number of components that determine the reaction rate can be improved by special training. For every type of activity and sport that requires increased speed reactions, there are different training methods. However, there are a number of tips aimed at developing reaction speed that you can use on your own.

Developing reaction speed

  • Develops reactions well sport games with moving objects, such as football, handball, hockey. They help improve reflexes and make the brain react faster to the situation.
  • Cross-country running forces the brain to respond to its environment, especially if it involves overcoming various obstacles, natural or man-made. Just don't forget about safety!
  • An exercise with a tennis ball is good for training reaction speed. You need to stand against the wall and try to catch the ball, throwing it against the wall and bouncing off the ground. For best workout you can change the rebound angle using Various types balls.
  • In a great way Reaction training is boxing. There are many special exercises how to develop reaction in boxing. Therefore, even if it is not possible to engage in this sport, you can take on any of these exercises. The simplest exercise is the so-called “cracker”. The partner positions his palm so that it is convenient to hit it. After this, you need to try to hit your palm with your fist. The partner will try to get ahead of the blow and remove his palm. After some time, the partners change roles.
  • Computer games will improve the reaction of the eyes and sharpen the fine motor skills of the hands. At the same time, the reaction speed increases without great physical effort.
  • Helps speed up reflexes simple exercise for vision. You need to take a pen and focus your gaze on it. After a while, you need to sharply change the focus of your vision, focusing your gaze on any other object in the room.

In the modern world with its fast pace in life you need to be able to react to current events to the maximum short time. Otherwise, you risk missing out on all the opportunities and chances that will fall into the hands of people who are sensitive and quick to react to everything that happens in the world around them. But your fate is in your hands, and therefore you can eliminate your slowness and improve your reaction on your own. Let's figure out what else this useful skill is needed for, and what needs to be done to develop it.

Why do you need a good reaction?

Responsiveness is the ability of the human brain to respond to external stimuli. Depending on how quickly nerve impulses are transmitted through the body to the brain, it can be fast or slow. It’s clear that a well-developed reaction is needed even just for survival. After all, you must admit that a person who has sufficiently developed this skill will be able to dodge a stone flying at him in a matter of seconds, while an individual with a slow reaction may not have time to do this. Therefore, this ability is useful even in ordinary everyday situations.

The advantages of a good reaction also include the ability to find a worthy answer to your opponent in a few seconds, not to mention the fact that a person with such a reaction will never miss a profitable offer, but will quickly react to it. Therefore, by improving it, you also become more resourceful and witty. It is impossible not to mention that this ability is necessary in any sport. Therefore, it is also advisable for athletes to develop this skill. After all, no record can be set without sufficient speed of action. But how to develop a reaction at home?

If you want to improve this reflex, you should start with regular classes sports. As psychologists say, team games are best suited as a simulator for improving reactions. Get your family to achieve the goal. For example, you can introduce a tradition: every Sunday, do something team sport, which involves the presence of a fast moving object. This could be badminton, football, hockey, basketball, tennis and other games that help develop a quick reaction. Do not forget that to achieve the desired result, classes must be regular.

It would seem strange, but computer games also help develop a reaction. Racing, arcades, shooting games are not only a way to pass the time with pleasure, but also to learn how to quickly react to what is happening. In addition, working with a computer mouse improves hand motor skills. This skill is also important for life.

Psychologists also advise to accustom yourself to stressful situations and external stimuli. To do this, ask your family to make loud, frightening sounds at the most unexpected moments. At first you will constantly flinch, but over time you will get used to it and will react faster to external stimuli.

Effective exercises to help develop good reactions

Psychologists have developed a whole range of exercises aimed at improving reactions. The main objective of such exercises is to engage all muscle groups and stimulate the brain for quick conclusions. You can do them even at home, without any special skills.

  • You will need one more person for the exercise. He must perform a variety of actions, and you must repeat everything exactly. From easy and simple movements it is necessary to move on to more complex ones. This exercise not only develops reaction time and forces the brain to think on the fly, but also strengthens memory.
  • Training the visual apparatus is extremely important, because through vision we receive about 90% of all information from the world around us. Therefore, to develop a reaction, vision should be used. Good exercise is as follows: a person shows you various objects, but you must react (for example, make a sound) only to those that you have agreed upon in advance.
  • The next exercise involves the motor system. Ask your friend to take a flat object (ruler, notebook, etc.). He presses it against the wall, and you stand next to it and hold your finger a centimeter above the object. The person must suddenly let go, and your task is to prevent him from falling.
  • A similar exercise that trains your reaction well is as follows: your friend should throw a small ball into your hands at the most unexpected moments. At first, you will constantly miss it or not react at all to an object flying in your direction, but soon, when the movements are practiced to the point of automatism, this will not be difficult for you.
  • For this exercise, you need to sit on a chair and ask a friend to blindfold you with a handkerchief. A friend stands behind you and lightly touches your back. Each time he touches you should react with a voice, click, clap, etc. The intervals between touches can be from a few seconds to two to three minutes.

As we can see, developing a good reaction for Everyday life It’s not difficult; all you need to do is follow the above recommendations regularly and train. If you do everything right, you will soon see positive changes.

). Well, now let's touch on the topic how to increase reaction speed from point of view practical exercises . But first, a little theory. To refresh your memory :)

How to increase reaction speed through practice and exercises - when this question arises, then a related question should also arise: increase reaction speed FOR WHAT? What do you want to respond to faster? For example, you can react:

  • aurally
  • to touch
  • to a visual stimulus.

Accordingly, if you train a reaction, it will be to one of these stimuli. Subsequently, they can be mixed - but to begin with, according to the principle of gradualness, it is better to separate and train in turn.

Regardless of what kind of reaction you train - hearing, touch, vision (there is little point in training the sense of smell or taste) it is important be clear about what the response will be during training, what specific action. It would be correct to train one sense organ for different actions.

Although training the reaction to smell may have its advantages:

Thus, there is a well-known story when two Red commissars were on duty at the safe house of some enemies of the people (White Guards, Trotskyists, Denikinites, fascists, etc. - in this regard, the sources of history do not agree). Be that as it may, the commissars had a task: to sit quietly in the apartment, without sticking their heads out, and wait until the right enemy of the people appears. Well, and, accordingly, capture him and torture him (shoot him, dispossess him, etc. - here the sources also cannot agree on opinions).

So, the brave commissars are sitting in ambush, chewing rations, and waiting. They wait a day, wait two. You can’t go out, warm up, or get proper sleep - after all, the Motherland gave you the task of keeping a vigil! And watch unnoticed.

In general, they waited for some time - and then one of the commissioners lost his nerve. And also the habit of smoking let me down. Well, he took it and automatically lit it. My partner saw this mess and stopped. They wait further. So what would you think?

That same enemy of the people trained the reaction speed, among other things, to the sense of smell! He entered the apartment, smelled that they had been smoking here not a week ago, as it should have been, but only a day ago - and began to shoot based on the smell. Accordingly, one commissioner is wounded, the second is chasing the enemy of the people throughout the city.

Sources also remain undecided about how the chase ended. But nevertheless, the moral is this: firstly, smoking is harmful. And secondly, the speed of reaction can also be to the sense of smell.

We continue our topic of increasing reaction speed through exercise.

So, it would be correct to train the speed of reaction to various signals from one sense organ. It is possible even to completely absurd signals; it is important to ensure diversity movements and engage maximum number of muscles. But these actions should be very simple and performed in what is called one touch, in one movement. These movements can be completely different and require different efforts. From “reach” to performing the “down” command, pull-ups and push-ups. The main thing is that the movement is simple.

It is also important that exercise shouldn't be pointless; it must have a certain meaning. That is, so that it can be useful in real life. The main emphasis in the choice here should be on safety or the acquisition of certain professional or sports skills. In this case, the stimulus should be adequately selected. For example, with the sound of a loud click (imitation of a shot), you need to train jumping to the side, falling, but not “taking off your hat.”

Of course, we need to start according to the principle of gradualism- from the simplest exercises, the same “get the javara” or moving a light object from place to place.

The second feature of reaction training is mandatory presence of a completely random and uncontrollable source of irritation. Training by giving yourself mental orders is a waste of time, and it gets boring quickly. We need a truly random source of events.

The most ideal source of random events will be another person - partner. Participating in a training session between two people immediately introduces a certain element of competition. Everyone tries to beat the other and tries to make the opponent’s task as difficult as possible. Your partner can be your friend, children, parents, etc. No one will refuse to improve their reaction.

By the way, if you can handle this, then you can independently create such conditions where there are as many accidents as you like :)

Here are several exercises aimed at increasing reaction speed. Naturally, they are not a dogma, but simply a model on the basis of which you can create many different exercises that are more suitable for you.

How to increase your hearing response speed.

A sound signal acts as a stimulus. It must have a clearly defined beginning. This could be, for example, a bell, the sound made by a musical instrument, a knock, a click, etc. Even the doorbell. When training an auditory response, it is important to interrupt the visual connection between the source and the trainee. Those. The trainee should not be able to predict the appearance of sound based on any actions of the trainer. You can make a sound behind your back or use the simplest program computer.

When training hearing from a safety point of view, the exercises should be aimed at appropriate actions (bending down, jumping to the side, falling).

Examples of exercises to increase the speed of reaction to hearing:

  1. The coach walks out the door. The trainee, when the bell rings, must move a small object from one place to another (the places must be clearly marked). Must get the object (from the table, pocket, remove from the shelf).
  2. The coach, sitting behind him, sharply hits the table with a ruler. The trainee must make a response click.
  3. When training for safety, it is important to practice the procedure for snatching a weapon or something that replaces it by sound (screaming, knocking, stomping, etc.).
  4. Two partners are sitting opposite each other, with an object lying on a chair in front of them. The coach walks around his teammates and suddenly claps. Partners must grab the object by clapping - whoever is faster. To complicate the exercise, the trainer can not only clap, but also make sounds such as “clap”, “boom” and so on. Attention: partners must pay attention to the fact that they should not bump their foreheads.

How to increase the speed of your reaction to touch

This is practicing a reaction to touch, especially one that is not visually controlled, for example from behind the back. It is a very important part of the security element.

During training, the trainee puts on a blindfold if hand sensitivity is being practiced, or the trainer is behind him if safety exercises are being practiced.

Examples of exercises to increase the speed of reaction to touch:

  1. The trainee sits on a chair, blindfolded, hands shoulder-width apart on the table in front of him. The trainer touches the hands of the trainee in a random order and at random intervals. When touched, the trainee must clap his hands in front of him, above his head or behind his back. The less time passes from the time of touch to the clap, the better.
  2. The trainer is behind the trainee at a distance arm's length. The trainer touches the trainee's shoulder with his hand. The trainee must squat down sharply, jump forward or sideways, turn around and take a fighting stance.

How to increase your vision reaction speed

Vision is our main sense. A person receives 90% of information through vision. Therefore, training the reaction from a “visible” stimulus should be given Special attention. Fortunately, this is the easiest thing to train. During training, special attention should be paid not only to the reaction to any event, but also to the selection of visual events by the trainee. For example, don’t just “light the lamp.” For example, you need to light one of several lamps. At the same time, the brain must evaluate the situation and weed out unnecessary stimuli.

Examples of exercises to increase the speed of reaction to a visual stimulus:

  1. The coach presses a student ruler to the wall. The trainee holds his thumb 1 cm from the ruler at a level of approximately 10-15 cm from the beginning. When the trainer releases the ruler, it will begin to fall. The task of the trainee is to press the ruler against the wall with his thumb. The fewer centimeters the ruler “flies”, the better the reaction.
  2. The coach accidentally lights one of the two table lamps (the switch should not be visible to the coachee).
  3. While doing this (lighting a certain lamp), the trainee must move some object, clap his hands, etc.
  4. The trainer shows the trainee various objects from behind a screen. The trainee's reaction should only be to a specific object.

Great workouts are different kinds finger games. For example, even-odd, rock-paper-scissors.

Even-odd. The leader “throws out” one of the numbers from 1 to 5 on his fingers. The follower must throw out his own number, but the opposite in value. If the leader shows 3 fingers (odd), then the follower must show 2 or 4 (even).

Rock Paper Scissors. The stone (fist) dulls the scissors, the scissors (index and middle finger) cut the paper, the paper (palm) covers the stone. In the usual version, players “throw away” the item at the same time. In this case, the coach gives the trainee a time advantage so that he can figure it out and show the winning item.

Ladushki. Players sit opposite each other at a table and keep their hands on the table in front of them. The leader tries to cover the follower’s with his palm, and the follower tries to pull it away in time.

Further, the following training of reaction speed to a visual stimulus is also possible:

  1. A children's game when several people stand in a circle and jump clockwise, trying to step on their neighbor's foot. The neighbor tries to remove his leg by jumping. The one who jumped, attacking, freezes in place. The one who jumped, jumping away, jumps on the foot of the next player. The one whose foot is stepped on leaves the circle.
  2. A simple game of “catch the paper.” One person holds a small piece of paper (money, for example). The second person places his palm on the hand that holds the piece of paper. The first one lets go of the piece of paper, and the second one’s task is to catch this piece of paper with the hand that was lying on the first one’s hand. If you play with the money of someone who is training their reaction speed (if you catch the money, it’s yours, if you don’t catch it, it belongs to your partner) – then your reaction speed will be trained very, very quickly.
  3. Juggle. Just start learning to juggle. Here it’s not just about the reaction, but it’s impossible without it.

A great workout for increasing reaction speed for the entire body is to catch tennis ball hand. Have you seen how tennis players train? They stand against the wall and practice the blow. The ball bounces off the wall and comes back to them. You can also take a tennis ball, stand in front of a wall and start throwing it with force in the same way as in tennis - hand - ground - wall - hand. First, one hand is trained, then the other, then both at once. You can throw with one hand and catch with the other. This complicates trajectory calculations. Things will go even better when a partner appears, and you and he will take turns catching the ball together.

Thus, you can increase your reaction speed with the help of practical exercises easily and simply. And here your intention to win will help you - it will provide the basis for the actions that you need to train.

When writing this article, materials from http://www.leovit.ru/reaction.html were used

If you have any healthy recipes to speed up the reaction - write in the comments!

How often can you catch a ball flying towards you? When last time Did boiled-over soup fill you with gas? How many times have you lost in a game of agility and speed? All this is controlled by one important component of human life - reaction. Good reactions allow you to quickly and accurately deal with surprises - from everyday to professional. However, not everyone has a developed reaction: some quickly process their life experiences and do not specifically train their reactions, while others, on the contrary, need long and hard training to learn how to react in a split second.

Reaction: what, why, how?
What is a reaction, and why does the body need it, and even trained? So, a reaction is the body’s ability to immediately act in response to an external stimulus. Such an irritant can be anything: a ball flying at your head, borscht “popping” out of a pan on the stove, a phone ringing. Reaction is important not only in sports or in self-defense, it also helps in everyday life, because... prevents you from being caught off guard.

It is interesting that the reaction can be correct and incorrect. So, the instinct of self-preservation tells you to close your eyes when a strong wind rises, and dust can get on the mucous membrane. This is the correct reaction, which, in fact, does not need to be trained; it has been developed over the years and experience. However, the same closing of the eyes will be the wrong reaction when a ball or stone flies into the face. Here you need to either intercept the flying object with your hand, or shield yourself from it, or jump to the side. These actions require quick response, and therefore training!

Is it difficult to train a reaction?
How difficult is it to train a reaction and is it possible to do it? Of course, it is possible and necessary, and besides, it does not present any particular difficulties. How long did it take you to learn how to catch a ball in physical education lessons at school? Those who were not afraid of it learned this simple science very quickly, while those who ran from the ball as if from a nuclear attack still do not know how to catch it. The main rule in reaction training is: don’t be afraid. Fear blocks logic, so instead of calmly catching the ball, you will run away, put your fingers up, or, at best, dodge. In physical education lessons it’s not so scary: you didn’t catch the ball, you didn’t become a master of sports in your class, and that’s okay. Besides, dodging is also a reaction, it’s still better than getting hit in the face with a ball.

You can develop any of the senses, not just vision, which was discussed here. Hearing, smell, touch - all this can be trained. Determine for yourself what you will train first, because... you need to start with one feeling, then add the rest and combine. For example, start training the visual or auditory response (these senses are the easiest to train), then connect the sense of touch.

The second thing to consider is the purpose of your reaction training. Why did you need to develop a reaction: to win in sports, for self-defense, to improve professional skills? A clearly defined goal guarantees you faster and more obvious results, because when you don’t understand why you are doing it, the desire disappears.

Let's move on to training
It is best to train with a partner, because if you ask yourself an exercise and do it yourself, there will be no effect. In reaction training, speed, speed of action, unpredictability and uncontrollability of the stimulus are important. However, you can train the reaction at home yourself: throw a ball against the wall and catch it, toss a coin. In addition, there are special computer programs for developing reactions, which will help you conduct training alone.

In reaction training, it is important that the tasks are as varied as possible and involve different muscles. At first, make all movements slowly and measuredly, even thoughtfully. This way you will develop a movement algorithm, which will then be reproduced “automatically”. Not only training for the development of reactions is based on this principle, but in general everything that requires speed from the body (dancing, playing musical instruments).

If you decide to train with a friend (father, wife, child, neighbor), think through the set of tasks that you will perform. However, you don't have to know their sequence to maintain the surprise effect.

Examples of tasks for training the speed of visual reaction:

  • There are several lamps on the table, their switches are hidden under the table. The assistant lights one of the lamps, the task of the trainee is to perform a certain action. If the exercise is carried out at the initial stage of reaction training, there is no need to give instructions to turn on each lamp - this is very difficult. Let only a certain lamp be an indicator that something needs to be done. Over time, the task can be complicated, for example, when you turn on the red (or left) lamp, clap above your head, when you turn on the green (or middle) lamp, sit down, etc.
  • An assistant stands behind a screen and shows you objects one by one. You only need to react to one agreed upon object.
Examples of tasks for training the speed of auditory reaction:
  • When you hear a clap (or a special signal), move a certain object to another place. Before performing the exercise, you need to agree on what exactly you must do. For example, one clap - move the object forward, two clap - move it to the left, three - to the right, etc. You can use beep sounds on your computer. The main thing is that you have your back turned to your partner, and do not see how he is about to slam.
  • If self-defense exercises are being conducted, you can pull out a weapon by clapping or clicking or imitate this action.
  • While studying with someone else, you can spend next exercise: two people are sitting opposite each other, with some object lying on the table between them. At the sound signal, you must be the first to grab the object. Great exercise, which also includes a competitive aspect.
Examples of tasks for training the speed of tactile reaction:
  • You are blindfolded. Your partner touches your hands one by one. You need to clap your hands as quickly as possible after touching.
  • A similar exercise: the partner is behind the trainee, alternately placing his hand on his shoulders and head. You need to do the same thing - clap very quickly.
These exercises are very useful for those who practice self-defense, because they will allow you to quickly react in a critical situation.

In the same way, you can train your reaction in sports. The main exercise is, of course, with the ball, but don't limit yourself to that. Use moves from judo, boxing, fencing, even regular badminton is an excellent way to train your reactions.

A good way to train your reaction is to use special ball. Due to its shape, it has a completely unpredictable rebound direction after hitting any surface. With its help, you can train your reaction, for example, in the following way. Stand with your partner opposite each other at a short distance and throw the ball on the floor. After the rebound, try to catch the ball. Look for a similar ball in sports stores your city. Some balls come with a CD with descriptions in various ways training with the ball.

You can find a lot of reaction training exercises, you can come up with them yourself. However, remember that you can’t overload either, the body may not like it!

Reaction speed is of great importance in the modern world. Speed ​​and energy are necessary in many life situations; without them it is impossible to achieve success in business and sports. Advice from psychologists and trainers will help you develop a good reaction.

How to develop a good reaction

What is a reaction

Reaction is the ability to respond to external stimuli received by the senses. Most of all, the speed of the reaction depends on the characteristics nervous system person. The speed of life also affects the speed of reaction - a person living in a rural area has a slightly lower reaction than a city resident.

How to develop good reaction speed

Many sports help develop reactions. Classes are especially useful table tennis. If you don't have a partner, hit a tennis ball off the wall. And to enhance the effectiveness of your training, hit the ball off the wall carpet. In this case, the reaction intensifies due to the fact that more physical effort has to be applied.

Many computer games – racing, shooters and various simulators – also help develop reactions. However, don’t get too carried away with them – computer toys should only be part of your training

To increase reaction speed, the following are well suited: - boxing with a sparring partner, - cross-country running, - push-ups with cotton, - football, - volleyball, - ping-pong, - badminton, - baseball.

Great for your purpose and children's games. “Dodgeball”, snowball fights and all entertainment with moving objects help the brain quickly analyze the situation and make the right decisions.

You can also develop your reaction with the help of special exercises aimed at training various senses. You should start training from the very simple exercises requiring a simple response to a specific stimulus. Then try more complex combinations. Such exercises help bring the desired reaction almost to the level of a reflex.

Reaction training is best done with competitors - the spirit of competition will significantly increase the effectiveness of training