In part one of this series, you were introduced to some rules that explain the function of muscles in relation to pain and performance and on how to direct assessment and treatment.
This blog will focus on Rules 1, 2 and 3;
Rule no 1. The normal function of any muscle in the body is the ability to fully shorten and contract and fully lengthen and relax in all ranges of motion.
Rule no 2. The ability for muscles to do this is governed by the brain and its response to conscious demand AND subconscious responses to proprioceptive/chemical/hormonal/nutritional/emotional feedback.
Rule no 3. Information received by the brain that is processed as dangerous or harmful can drastically effect the nervous systems ability to create normal function of muscles (whether there is an tissue damage/injury or not).
Rule no 1 sounds simple right?
Any muscle in the body should have the capability to fully shorten and fully lengthen within their given ranges.
But we all know that isn’t necessarily the case.
Reading this right now, if I were to ask you to scan your body for tightness in a muscle or lack of mobility in a joint or particular movement I bet you could think of at least a few areas that would fit the bill?
Some conventional methods of the rehabilitation world lead us to believe that pain in a joint or muscle group occurs because there is weakness in the muscles surrounding that area.
There are then perceived to be two ways of rectifying this.
(a) Massage or other forms of soft tissue work or manipulation to force the tissue or area to let go and relax.
(b) Complete exercises to strengthen areas of weakness that are causing the pain to occur.
The one major flaw with the second part of that approach is the presumption that all muscles have the ability to work equal to one another all the time. Some are just mysteriously weaker and are painful or tighter as a consequence of this weakness. Weakness or inhibition of certain muscles/ligaments in response to movement requirements could well be the driving force behind the pain. The question lies in why there may be weakness or inhibition and is exercising these areas really the answer?
The truth of the matter is that not all muscles work equally all the time (because of their governance by Rule no 2 above). This apparent, untested ‘weakness’ is regulated by our subconscious and asking inefficient muscles to work more, can add to the amount of compensation required to move or function as close to normal.
This bring us onto Rule no 2. The ability to work within these normal ranges is governed subconsciously by the processing and reaction to information that travels from (among others) sensory receptors in the skin, muscles, ligaments, viscera and other tissue to the brain via the spinal chord.
In short, the afferent nervous system transports information from the body TOWARDS the brain. The efferent nervous system transports reactive/reflexive information (contacting of muscles, up/down-regulation of another system in the body etc) AWAY from the brain.
Our body is hard wired to work at 100% all the time so has the ability to utilise these simple rules but it is also hard wired to protect itself from danger.
When proprioceptive information received by the brain is processed as dangerous or likely to cause danger during movement, it will react subconsciously to protect you.
How?
By up or down-regulating the ability for a muscle to fully shorten or lengthen, or up/down regulating another system in the body (hormonal / digestive etc) all for the good cause of limiting damage or decreasing stimulus perceived as damage or dangerous.
For example; if you are someone who struggles to flex forward and touch the ground with your fingers, you’ll notice that your hamstrings and lower back could be very tight and won’t allow you full range of movement.
In all likelihood your subconscious is preventing you from creating a full range of movement by protecting you from something it perceives to be dangerous. Perhaps there is a ligament that is sensitive to stretch in your lower back or pelvis and decreasing your hamstrings ability to fully lengthen allows you to protect yourself from over stimulating this and potentially cause more damage (real or simply perceived).
Cause = Sensitivity to stretch of ligament
Affect = Muscle HYPERTONICITY, tightness and/or pain
Result = Inefficient movement, potential inflammation of tissue and pain
This is one very simplistic example of potentially many, but highlights the point that muscles react to a complex system of Afferent (info going TO the brain) vs Efferent (reactionary response to this info travelling to the body FROM the brain) nervous system control. Another example would be the image above showing a more reflexive reaction to heat stimulus.
So why is this important to know?
Because those muscles that are tight all the time or painful are that way because your nervous system has made it so. They aren’t necessarily weak but they are reacting to proprioceptive/chemical/nutritional/hormonal/emotional information processed as dangerous or likely to cause danger. This up or down-regulation causes tonic changes to the muscles. A high tone, tight or painful muscle is a sign of inefficiency. And that knowledge gives us power and hope that they can change, even if they have been that way for years. We just need to find the WHY behind their current state.
If you understand that your subconscious nervous system controls what a muscle can or cannot do, you'll start to see why stretching or releasing a chronically tight muscle over and over again with little to no improvement isn't necessarily the way towards long term relief. This can only occur when the reason WHY muscle 'X' has changed tone has been identified and addressed on a neurological level.
In the next blog we will cover more information about the why behind painful or tight muscles in rules 4 and 5;
Rule no 4. Not all tight muscles are weak and neither are they functionally fully strong.
Rule no 5. 'Strong' (hypertonic/up-regulated) and 'weak' (hypotonic, down-regulated or inhibited) reactions within muscle movements are both equally dysfunctional and likely to result in pain via inefficient balance of movement.
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