Muscles perform 3 basic functions in the human body. They assist in movements like walking, running, climbing stairs, rising from a chair, or getting out of bed. They keep us upright or erect as we stand or sit. If muscles aren't exercised equally or we allow muscles to weaken, it causes posture issues and normally further pain in the lower back, neck, or hips.
Muscles also assist in heat production to keep our body at a survivable temperature.
For today's short look at our muscles, I will only talk about skeletal muscles that attach to the bones and help us move our bodies. We often refer to this group as voluntary or striated (based upon the way it looks under a microscope).
Join me below for some questions I have on how to better utilize our muscles.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
I believe the schedule below is correct. Please leave me a comment below if you would like to assist with a diary or if there are errors.
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
November 30
Mon PM - ???
December 1
Tues AM - ???
Tues PM -- Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 28)
December 2
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
December 3
Thurs AM - ???
Thurs PM - ???
December 4
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - ???
December 5
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 29)
December 6
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - Holiday Fit Club - kismet
December 7
Mon AM - NC Dem (A look at your butt...I mean glutes)
Mon PM - ???
A look at the striated muscle under a microscope
My question: Can all voluntary muscles be controlled?
Involuntary muscles that are involved in digestion or movement of your blood supply are only partly connected to your brain. Skeletal muscles, however, are almost entirely controlled by the brain. There are exceptions like muscle cramps that are not but I want to focus just on how we activate our brain to create movement, tension, or force in our muscles.
You don't just rise from your chair!
There is a process involved. You need to go to the restroom, right. You decide its time for action. Your brain activates and sends motor transmissions through your neurons to your muscles and they collectively move your body out of the chair and allow you to take that first step toward relief. Heck, even when you get to the bathroom, you sit or stand and your brain activates again and allows you to engage/disengage muscles that remove waste from your system.
In exercise, your brain sends these same type messages to your muscles to take certain actions. The simplest is probably the bicep curl. You have a 10# dumbbell in your right arm and you think... I want to lift my forearm toward my shoulder very slowly and then I will lower the weight back to my thigh area at an even slower speed. You have done this so many times it has become monotonmous.
But what happens when the weight is much heavier? Let's say 50#. No problem lifting it from the floor to an upright position and it is now hanging near your thigh area in your same right hand. What now has to change? First, your grip intensifies. You know this is going to be different. You allow your feet to stablize and you force your feet into the floor. Your knees slightly bend because you have learned that you can use the flexibility in the knees to assist with heavy weight. You tighten your core area and stiffen your lower back. You tighten your glutes like you are pinching a penny in your butt cheeks. Your bicep is already tight just from the hanging weight. You lock your elbow to the side of your body to provide stability in this joint. Your wrist and forearm become one unit as all muscles are under tension. You feel your bicep begin to ache and groan as you begin the lift. It is like an evenly matched arm wrestling opponent where equal forces are at work. Even the muscles in your neck and face assist in the move. Your toes slightly curl and grip the floor to provide that extra support.
Some may laugh and could accurately point out that above paragraph is exaggerated. Surely, you don't need to think about all these factors just to do a simple bicep curl. Maybe you don't if you are extremely strong and don't need the extra assistance from toes, knees, core area, wrist and forearm, grip strength, and stability of the elbow joint.
Studies have been performed to examine the increased performance during exercise when all the tension in other muscles assist in exercises. Think about a gymnast who wants to perform the Iron Cross on rings. We watch these athletes about every 4 years as they slowly lower their bodies between the rings until their body forms a "T" as the arms are extended almost perpendicular. You look at their face, their core, their shoulders, and their lats are all tight. Their body begins to shake from the sheer tension in the muscles. It is amazing to watch on TV and even more so if you ever see it performed in front of you. Needless to say, I think persons who can perform ring exercises are probably the best athletes in the world.
So the question becomes can we learn to activate our core muscles or our grip strength to improve our performance in strength training. Can we learn to activate our voluntary muscles and improve our performance. Whether it is a simple pushup, bench press, or a squat, can we learn to squeeze our glutes, tighten our grip, and flatten our abs to move our bench press from a one time max of 150# to 200# just by these actions. Studies show it can be done. In fact, just our abs and core can improve performance by 20-25% just if they alone are engaged. Hand grip can add up to 10% performance if used effectively.
One of the reasons that so many PT's encourage you to do crunches, twists, and toe touches is to improve your performance quickly. If you have ever gone to a PT in a gym, they often repeat the mantra...tighten those abs and lower back as you do this exercise. They know it improves performance and ultimately makes you a healthier person.
People who can do loads of pushups at one time have learned to engage the twisting action in the upper arms to provide more lift as you start the upward movement. They learn to activate this twist and know what it feels like when it is performed successfully. Here is an example of what it feels like. Take both arms and extend them out in front of you with your palms down. Hands are almost shoulder width apart. Now, rotate your arms outward so that your palms face up. Where do you feel the tightening?
I feel it in the armpit area and that leads to activation of the pec muscles. If you do a pushup correctly, you should feel this same tightening under the armpits and in the pecs as you press down on the floor with the palms of the hand and you attempt to rotate your arms as you press downward on the floor. Grip the floor with your fingertips to gain even more strength.
Many here on DKos probably have other tips to offer on strength training. Please share with us.