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Cutting the Details Cuts Your Potential

Greg Spindler, LMT, CSET

Like most parents, I spend a great deal of time assembling toys for my kids during the holidays. With these toys come lengthy, seemingly tedious directions and numerous parts that make the toy work as designed. I must admit, there have been times when I have relied on my intuition rather than the assembly instructions. Inevitably, I end up with a collection of parts that “I thought” were unnecessary for the toy to work. You probably know where I’m going with this. The end result is an improperly working toy with a voided warranty and a couple of frustrated kids (not to mention my own negative state of mind).

So you may have already guessed how this example relates to our own body as we use it for performance. We develop motor skills at a very young age that direct muscle memory for activity. Doing this initiates the very specific proper balance between nine major muscle groups. The agonist muscles move against the antagonists, while stabilizer muscles control us to move where desired. A quick and simple example is the exercise of the bicep curl. The bicep (agonist) shortens and tricep (antagonist) lengthens. The stabilizers are in the forearm and shoulder. If you work the bicep with curls but not the tricep with tricep extensions, the relationship of being in balance would change. Efficiency of movement decreases, thus leading to poor performance. This happens throughout the body if we ignore the proper relationships between muscle groups.

Here are few recommendations for strength relationships:

Knee--Quads/Hams = 3:2 ratio (Extension vs. Flexion) – ex. 60 lbs. Quads: 40 lbs. Hamstrings

Ankle—Gastroc (calves)/Tibia (front of leg) = 3:1

Elbow--Bicep/Tricep = 1:1

Shoulder—Front of shoulder/Back of shoulder = 2:3 (Flexion vs. Extension)

You can do this isolating by each group, but the true test is to do it while activating your core stabilizing muscles. For example, to do leg extensions vs. flexions, one would normally sit on equipment and extend the leg to work the quads. Then, you would turn to your stomach to do the knee flexions (hamstrings). Instead, stand without holding onto anything for support (like running) and try extending and flexing your leg and then compare ratios. You may see that those ratios are way off when you ask your body to stabilize itself. If you find that you are weak when you ask the core muscles to be involved, you must strengthen the core muscles first. Always remember that muscles pull (bones as levers), they never push to perform motion. Some shorten and some lengthen as we call on them for sport and daily activity. Muscles need to have the ability to respond/receive stimuli (nerve conduction), contract or shorten, stretch or lengthen, and then have the ability to return to their original shape. That is the one key to consistent performance. Excessive, overworked agonist muscle groups hamper this. So always do some sort of body check after intense workouts/races. Getting back to normal as soon as possible during recovery is key for the next workout as the body knows it’s just a few hours away.