Pete RohlederWhat’s up, everyone! Welcome back to More To Movement! So today, I’m jumping back into the Principles of Movement Series, specifically, muscle tension. I’ve been tempted to jump on to my next segment, but I know that I would not be doing right by you if I didn’t take the time to set the foundation of movement. It’s just so vital to success.
I can’t tell you how many people and professionals I have come across that struggle with improvement because they just don’t understand the foundation. So, I’m laying the foundation strong, so we can really build on it. I hope you’re in it with me.
The Team Approach Visual
We’re focusing on muscle tension and how it contribute to movement, and to help me out, I’m going to use a visual.
Think of a quarterback on a football team. Most people watching a game will focus on him because he’s in the limelight. He has the ball, and everyone waits to see what he’ll do with it. Most don’t watch the offensive line, the backs, or wide receivers unless they receive the ball or are involved in an epic play. All eyes are typically on the quarterback. Now, what happens if someone on the offensive line doesn’t do their job? Yeah- the quarterback gets smashed, and we’re all left wondering how that happened. If you know the game or were paying attention to all the players, you may have seen it coming.
When it comes to muscles and movement, most of you have the same visual I described above-a focus on the primary muscle working. Though that’s understandable since it’s the main mover, many don’t look at ALL the muscles contributing to movement, just like the football example. Think of a biceps curl- do you think the biceps brachii is the only muscle contributing to the movement?
It’s ok if everything is going to plan. What happens if one of the muscles isn’t doing their part? Yeah, you guessed it- imbalance and overcompensation. Big deal, Pete- so my arms don’t develop as much, you say. Well, if you’ve been paying attention at all to my last several episodes, it’s clear that imbalance causes overcompensation. And overcompensation will steal from other muscles, causing a ripple effect of poor energy and force flow.
So were going to start with an understanding of the roles muscles play during movement. With every kind of action, muscles assume different roles based on what they are instructed to do.
Role Play: The Parts Muscles Play
I love the visual of a stage production. During some acts, all the stage lights are on, and everyone can be seen contributing to the scene. In other acts, a spotlight is on an actor, with the rest of the cast acting in the background. Though the focus is on one actor during that scene, the scene wouldn’t work unless the rest of the cast played their part in the background.
At different times, muscles take on different roles and provide different muscle tension, like the ones I just described.
When a muscle is tasked to be the leader, it takes on the role of Agonist, which means that it acts as the primary mover for that particular movement, sort of like the spotlight actor.
During that same movement, some muscles must oppose that action. Like a yin to a yang, these muscles act opposite the prime mover to refine and control movement. This role is called the Antagonist.
Some muscles take on the role of assistant and help the prime mover during the movement pattern. They are called Synergists.
Finally, some muscles stick to the support side of things. These Stabilizers support the body while others are performing their functions. They help protect joints, as well as maintain the integrity of the movement.
I have visual of these terms on the show notes page, at MoreToMovement.com/episode7, so check it out if you need a little more to drive this concept home.
Keep in mind that if the movement changes, so do the roles and muscle tension. For example, If I raise my arm in front of me, the front of my shoulder (anterior deltoid) becomes the prime mover, while the back of my shoulder (posterior deltoid) becomes the Antagonist. If I reverse the movement and bring my arm down and behind me, the muscles switch roles.
Muscle Tension: Force-Coupled Relationships
So it’s clear how all the muscles work together to create movement, and all have an essential role. This co-dependence is called a force-coupled relationship, meaning that all muscles play a role and contribute to force production and transfer to contribute to the movement. Nothing is really isolated. If a muscle doesn’t play its role, it affects the whole system. Most times, when there are movement issues, we see the background actors decide to do more than carry out their supporting role, and they try to step into the spotlight. Its called synergist dominance, and it’s a far too common occurrence with movement.
Let me give you an example. The bench press exercise primarily engages pectoralis major (chest) and triceps brachii as the prime movers, with the anterior deltoids acting as synergists. However, we often see the anterior deltoid contributing much more to the movement than the pectoralis major, taking away the primary duties of the pecs. This can have apparent ramifications, such as suboptimal force transfer and performance, which would affect the strength capabilities. Or, on a bigger scale, it could cause overdevelopment of the anterior deltoid, leading to an imbalance in the deltoids. That imbalance could cause postural issues if the shoulders begin to chronically roll forward. It all matters.
Taking a step beyond that and seeing how vital this synergetic relationship is, we can start to look at the relationship of force and how it is affected.
Active vs Passive Force
As we know, muscle tension (or force) must be created within the muscle to create movement. To have an understanding of the relationship of force, we should consider both passive and active forces.
Active force is just that- force production when the muscle fibers are actively contracting, and requires the chemical process for muscle contraction to kick in. If you recall, the myofilament crossbridge (actin and myosin) generates a forceful pull toward the center of the sarcomere, which shortening the muscle fiber.
Passive force is when those myofilaments are lengthened and pulled part. The elastic component of the sarcomere produces tensile force when lengthened and does so without the chemical properties needed for an active contraction.
There are optimal levels of muscle tension, and to maximize our movement efforts, understanding how the types of force produced and the length of tissue affects muscle tension levels is hugely beneficial.
Length-Tension Relationships
Think of jumping. If you stand straight up and try to jump, do you get very far off the ground?
Ok, now picture yourself squatting down as far as possible, with only a few inches of clearance between you and ground- now jump. How far off the ground did you get?
Neither option is optimal for maximizing your jump efforts. For you to jump as high as possible, what works the best? For most, a quick mini-squat makes jumping feel almost effortless. This is because you are taking advantage of an optimal length-tension relationship.
Muscles have a specific length at rest. So at rest, the tissue is at 100% of its resting length. If that muscle is slightly stretched beyond resting (up to ~130%), it has the highest potential for force and tension, mostly due to elastic and contractile properties of the tissue. This is where the passive length-tension relationship shines. If it is stretched beyond that point, tension decreases significantly.
Muscle Tension: The Science
As muscle contracts (shortens), it maintains proper muscle tension until about 70% of its resting length due to the increasing overlap of actin and myosin filaments. This force production will hit a peak then plateau when all available binding sites for the myofilaments are occupied, and then tension capability diminishes very quickly. This is the active length-tension relationship in action.
I have another visual of this concept on the show notes page, at MoreToMovement.com/episode7, so you may want to check that out too.
This brings us full circle, and here’s why this is so important.
All muscles have optimal length-tension relationships. If we understand the roles muscles play and how they contribute to movement through active and passive force, we can evaluate how efficient (or inefficient) the length-tension relationships are for specific movements.
This can influence how we are improving or correcting movement, but also how we implement movement or exercise strategies for development.
When we are looking at whole-body movement, it helps us understand how force is transferring through the body. Optimal length-tension relationships allow for coordinated and controlled movement. Movement is smooth and controlled when we have optimal length-tension relationships.
However, if issues with length-tension relationships arise for particular muscles due to injury, imbalances, or discrepancies, you will be able to observe the compensations and implement strategies to improve or correct the problem.
Do you want to build muscle? Just lifting weights won’t cut it if you’re aiming for optimal development. Take it a step further. Remember, the elastic properties of elongated, end range of motion tissue contribute significantly to increased muscle tension along with the loaded active tension. So, take a movement through a full range of motion to fatigue muscle fiber on both ends of the spectrum to optimize development.
How about strength gains? Take some time to throw in some tempo training sessions that focus on developing the elastic response during an eccentric contraction to help with the transition to a forceful concentric phase.
These are just a few examples, but I think you get the picture.
Muscle Tension Takeaways
So what are some tangible takeaways today that you can optimize roles of muscle and take advantage of length-tension relationships?
#1: To improve force-coupled relationships, add stabilizing exercises.
The precursor to any movement is stability; if the stabilizing muscles are weak, then the movement, and force potential, will be suboptimal. Try to include movements that challenge and strengthen stability, like single-leg or single-arm exercises and balance training.
#2: To develop optimal length-tension relationships, try to train with a full range of motion, so all muscles have an opportunity to contribute to the movement.
For specific movements, find the position or technique that optimizes length-tension relationships by moving and training at different angles. Maybe try a different barbell grip during your bench, or different stance during deadlifts to engage different muscles. If you understand the pattern, you can modify how you load it to optimize muscular contribution and development.
Conclusion
So there it is, everyone. Try keeping these things in mind next time you start training. You’d be surprised what just a little change in focus and perspective can do for your development and outcomes.
As always, I appreciate you taking some time to listen to the episode today, and I hope you were able to get some productive tips out of it.
Continuing with this theme of wholistic, synergist movement, I’m going to chat about kinetic chains in the next episode. I’ll chat about the different types of kinetic chains and how strategically choosing different kinetic chain exercises can drastically improve your training results.
Thanks again, everyone, and I can’t wait until the next episode. Hope to see you there!
Take care, everyone, and remember, wherever you are- keep moving.
Check out other episode’s show notes and graphics!
Connect with Pete on Instagram: @pete.rohleder
Pete Rohleder
