The body is a link system – a kinetic chain. Training is all about enhancing linkage and connections with all the parts of the chain working together in harmony to produce smooth efficient patterns of movement. Most Traditional academic preparation focuses on studying individual muscles based on classical anatomy. This classical anatomical approach focuses on learning about muscles in isolation and how those muscles w
ork at one joint. This is where the confusion begins, it is neat, clean and convenient but it does not accurately portray what happens when you move. The anatomical position is static; it provides us with the perspective of mental convenience to arrange all the individual muscles for ease of study and observation. For example in textbook anatomy the hamstrings main function is defined as a flexor of the knee. In actual movement the hamstring helps with flexion of the knee but that is not its primary job. Its primary job is to work eccentrically to decelerate the lower leg and extend the hip. The function changes with the orientation of the body to gravity and the ground. Selecting an exercise for the hamstring based on traditional anatomy would lead you to select an isolated movement like a hamstring curl that works the hamstrings as a flexor of the knee. Instead, if you select an exercise that involves the hamstring based on its function in movement you would select a lunge in multiple planes or a step-up that works the hamstrings at the knee and the hip.
In order to understand movement and to effectively train to improve movement efficiency we must get away from the focus on muscles. The brain does not recognize individual muscles. The muscles are slaves of the brain. The brain does not recognize isolated muscles; it recognizes patterns of movement, which consist of the individual muscles working in synergy to produce movement. The Central Nervous System is the command station that controls and directs all movement. The CNS calls for patterns of movement that can be modified in countless ways to react appropriately to gravity, ground reaction forces, and momentum. Each activity is subjected to further refinements and adjustments by feedback from the body’s proprioceptors. This process ensures optimal neuromuscular control and efficiency of function.
Movement does not occur in the anatomical position and only in one plane of motion. According to Dr Roger Enoka “the function of a muscle depends critically on the context in which it is activated.” As part of one movement a muscle can perform a certain way, in another movement it is capable of doing the exact opposite. Movement is complex requiring the interaction of multiple muscle systems involving synergists, stabilizers, neutralizers, and antagonists all working together to reproduce efficient triplanar movements. It occurs in reaction to gravity, ground reaction forces, and momentum.
The cornerstone of all training and rehabilitation is to train movements, not muscles. Training isolated movements, individual muscles, has the potential to create tremendous neural confusion. This is something to avoid at all costs. It may be more convenient to train an individual muscle, but it is not correct. It complicates the process of getting that muscle to work as part of an integrated whole. Integrated movements are simple and efficient. To effectively train movements think of connecting, linking, and syncing to enhance coordination.