The Art of Fine Tuning Our Body

Have you ever wondered how a human being is capable of running one hundred meters in under 10 seconds or 26.2 miles in 2 hours and 35 seconds? Have you ever noticed how elite marathon runners seem to move effortlessly, as if floating in the air? It is all about muscle control and neuromuscular efficiency, the ability of our central nervous system to connect with our muscles. 

The Conductor and the Instruments: Understanding Muscle Synergies 

Whenever I see a video of Usain Bolt, one of the fastest men on the planet, I can’t help to think of his movement as music created by a symphony orchestra where the brain is the conductor and the muscles are the instruments. 

When playing a piece of music, the conductor of the orchestra first needs to choose the instruments that are best suited for that particular melody. The same way, when we want to produce movement, our central nervous system works to produce muscle synergies. It recruits the group of muscles that together would optimize the execution of that particular movement. After choosing the instruments, the conductor would need to decide how and when each of them is going to perform. He might pick the string instruments to lead the melody and the brass instruments to support it. In a similar way, in the human movement system, each of the recruited muscles is in charge of performing a function depending on the particular movement we want to perform.  

Tuning the Orchestra: Correcting Muscle Imbalances 

Symphony orchestras have different types of instruments: string, percussion, woodwind and brass among others. Similarly, and according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), NASM Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training, muscles can perform different types of functions depending on the movement:  

1. Prime movers, also called agonists, are the muscles in charge of performing the movement.  
2. Synergists are the muscles that assist the prime movers with the movement.  
3. Antagonists are muscles opposite to the prime movers. 
4. Stabilizers are in charge of aligning the joint during movement.  

Going back to our symphony orchestra, if all the instruments perform their function, and if they play the notes when they are supposed to, then we will have a beautiful melody. In the human movement system, efficient and beautiful movement is achieved only when all muscles perform their intended functions at the correct times. 

For a symphony orchestra to perform at the highest level, every instrument needs to be finely tuned. Consider how string instruments require to have the right tension on their strings. Our muscles also have an optimal tension where they are posed to function optimally. So, what happens when an instrument is out of tune? Maybe the string of a violin is too tight or too loose? Another instrument needs to take over and perhaps perform something it is not supposed to. While the cello could compensate and play some of the violin parts, it's not the appropriate instrument and won't have quite the same sound range. Crucially, it would leave the cello stretched too thin, trying to play both roles. The melody is then disrupted, out of balance. Likewise, when a muscle is too tight or too loose, it is not going to be capable of performing the function it was recruited for. Consequently, the brain needs to instruct a different muscle to take over that function. This is the moment when we start developing compensations or imbalances that affect the efficiency of the movement.  

How can we correct these imbalances or compensations? As mentioned above, muscles need to find their optimal tension. Muscles that are tight or shortened need to be lengthened, and muscles that are underactive or loose need to be strengthened. I often hear people telling me they feel very tight and they need to stretch. Yes, we need to stretch muscles that are tight but not muscles that are already lengthened because that will only aggravate the imbalance. Just like the strings of a violin, we need to find the perfect tension for all of them. 

Finding Harmony: Correcting Posture Deviations 

With some exceptions such as trauma or surgery, muscle imbalances or compensation are usually the result of posture deviations that we acquire due to our lifestyle. When we spend many hours of our day sitting down, there are certain muscles, such as the muscles in charge of flexing our hips (hip flexors) that might get tight, and other muscles that might lengthen or weaken, such as our glutes. Similarly, when using smartphones or laptops for extended periods of time, the posture, sometimes called tech neck, that we adopt with our head shifted forward might cause imbalances. This posture could tighten our chest and neck, while loosening our mid back along with other deep parts of our neck. Correcting our posture and incorporating periodic movement breaks are helpful habits that will reduce and prevent muscle imbalances. 

Listening to the Body: Strategies for Improvement 

How can we know which muscles to stretch and which muscles to strengthen? 

There are different techniques used to assess or detect imbalances or compensations in the body. The overhead squat assessment, for example, is one of the techniques used by the NASM as an evaluation to determine which muscles might be shortened or overactive and which might be lengthened or underactive. But aside from using these methods that require a trained professional to conduct, we can make an effort to be aware and listen to our body when it is giving us signals of imbalances. We can try to adopt measures that might amend these deviations such as standing up and moving around periodically. This would help bring our body back to a neutral posture, where our shoulders are down, relaxed and not rounded. Our head would not be protruding forward, and our feet would be parallel and flat on the ground. Personally, two little tricks that work for me are setting an alarm every 30 minutes with an upbeat song to remind me that it is time to move around or sticking a post-it note with the word POSTURE placed on the upper corner of your screen. Our bodies have an extraordinary ability of adaptation, so once your body becomes accustomed to proper posture, maintaining it becomes easier and more natural. 

What works best can vary from person to person. The key is to be patient in finding what works for you and consistent in applying it. The same way these posture deviations and imbalances may have taken a long time to develop, the correcting techniques might take some time to reverse them. 

Let us give our body a chance to talk to us by creating an environment of awareness, by cultivating the connection between mind and body, and by making a daily effort to compose that perfect melody in the form of movement.