What promotes Movement?
/Many of us are aware of the importance of movement. We are informed continued movement is what equates to long healthy lives and with better mobility. While this may be true, there is an organ which is the catalyst that starts the process of movement. But I don’t feel health professionals are making it as important as it should be. I am referring to muscle. Muscle is what generates the mobilization of joint(s). The coordination of muscles to transmit force to their tendons that can promote or prevent joint motion.
Muscles are the catalyst that enables movement (along with our central nervous system). There is an importance to muscle contractions as it generates or prevents movement, yet I see it ignored in the fitness industry as maybe they don’t understand the relevance of it. What I do see are social media posts focusing on movement for superficial results and exercises that are extreme and challenging for people that can tolerate it.
What is the big deal about muscle?
Let’s start with the basics. Muscles connect to tendons, and attach to bones that articulate to create motion. These are called joints (like the elbow). Muscles develop tension to be transmitted to the tendon and will either mobilize or prevent joint(s) from moving. Think of a wall sit or a plank pose.
When we perform resistance training, meaning any external resistance like our body weight in squats, or dumbbells in a lateral shoulder raise, muscles are the opposition that move against it or prevent motion from happening. Since we are influencing muscles in exercises, it would be helpful to start thinking about the muscles we intend to use during an exercise.
Think of a biceps curl(elbow flexion) with dumbbells. Have you ever thought about tensing the upper arms as you bend the elbows? When you do this, you have to reduce if not eliminate any momentum during the motion, this way you can feel the tension and effort your elbow flexors are creating during the exercise. This can feel very difficult at first, and maybe you might not be able to do as many reps as you were before trying this. What does that mean? You have simply made your muscles work harder by developing more tension therefore controlling the weight being moved. These kind of effects have multiple benefits to the muscular, skeletal and nervous system to name a few.
The take away of this, is to be more mindful and intentional about tensing the muscles in your exercises. This can ultimately increase the difficulty and effectiveness of your workouts while potentially reducing risk of injury to the joints and muscles. This is one variable I do enforce in my training as it creates focus, and a more valued experience with each client. If you ready and looking for that kind of experience, I encourage you to book a consultation with Schab Fitness LLC today. Thank you.