Are you walking on thin ice? Part 2
My first article titled “Thin Ice-part 1″ involved a very basic overview of the nervous system, the two autonomic branches, their functions, dominance of one or the other, and how they affect your health. It also included some very simple strategies to get you into a more parasympathetic state more often.
Part 2 will be about the muscular system.
So if you recall I was walking the dogs, slipped on some ice and the fear of falling on my ass stirred up some ideas. Funny how falling on my ass evokes thoughts…tells you where most of my brains are, huh?
So, we’ve all had to walk on ice at some point. You know that feeling? You’re walking very slow and controlled and you feel all your muscles tighten up to control your body so you don’t go down. You’ll usually feel your legs tighten up first, then maybe your stomach and low back, you walk very rigid, etc.
This is a great example of something that usually leads to many joint/orthopedic issues. We have all sorts of muscles and they are all designed for specific purposes, usually more than one purpose depending on body position and other factors.
We have large more superficial muscles like the quads, hamstrings, glutes, chest muscles (pec major), abdominals(6 pack), shoulder muscles (delts) to name a few. They are all highly visible and their main functions are to act as prime movers, and secondary functions are to help with stabilization of the joint(s) they cross. The position of the joints also plays a role in whether they act more as stabilizers or movers. They are generally responsible for providing the force to move an arm or leg, etc. Since they are the largest and most visible, they get the most attention during people’s workouts. There is a second group of muscles that lie deep to the superficial muscles. they aren’t visible on the beach so they often get ignored. They are sometimes referred to as inner unit muscles, joint stabilizers, or the “small smart” muscles (as opposed to the big dumb muscles mentioned previously). Their job focus is to provide joint stiffness and stability so the large muscles have a solid, well anchored, sound joint to move around.
To give you a better example of what a joint stabilizer should do lets take a door hinge for example. The hinge itself is the joint, the door is the bone, and the screws of the hinge are the stabilizing muscles, and tendons. If those screws are not in tight when you go to open the door it is going to affect how well the door moves, opens and closes, and how much force is required to open and close the door. The damage that will incur as a result of this can happen in many different places but the sole cause will be that the screws stabilizing the hinge (joint) are not screwed in tight. There may be damage to the hinge (joint, tendons, etc), the door frame on either side or the door knob (surrounding joints). You may have damage at the door knob but that isn’t where the problem really lies.
You’ve probably heard of the rotator cuff muscles? These small muscles lie around, on top, and underneath the shoulder blade. Their job is not only to rotate the shoulder. It is also to make sure the head of your humerus is nice and snug in the joint so when the deltoids, traps, lats, or pecs move the arm it has a well functioning, mechanically sound joint to rotate around, just like the door hinge.
Now if these muscles aren’t working up to par then you’re body will try and use the prime movers as stabilizers. This usually doesnt’ work out so well. The next time your walking on ice, notice how your hamstrings feel. They should feel pretty tight and this is because they are trying to help stabilize you so you don’t fall and control your movement at the same time. That’s why walking on ice is tiring for the legs, it’s not natural mechanics. They are trying to provide more stabilizing forces than they usually do along with acting like a prime mover. The problem is that many of us don’t have to be walking on ice for this to be happening to some degree, especially if you’re being active by running or lifting weights.
If the deep hip stabilizers/rotators are not working correctly for whatever reason then your hamstrings, quads, inner thighs, or trunk muscles will try and take on the additional job. If their job is to help provide the force to move, how can they do that if they are simultaneously trying to exert more force than usual to stabilize the joint. They are trying to do two somewhat opposing actions at once. A muscle can not effectively fully stabilize a joint and also be the main source of force to produce movement of that joint. So you will either move and potentially damage the joint or surrounding tissues over time, or you will just not be able to move well. This can sometimes lead to that feeling of being “locked up”.
The same can happen in any other joint areas. If the low back hurts, it may because your deeper abdominal/spinal stabilizers (transverse abdominus, multifidus, psoas, QL, etc.) are not working in concert with your abs and obliques. Stabilizers must fire before prime movers, not vice versa.
Bottom line, if you have issues with your joints whether it’s joint pain, tendon pain, or muscle painor strain, it may because your deeper muscles aren’t functioning as well as they should be. Get strong from the inside out.