READY, WILLING AND ABLE

PART D-The Paradox of Function

The way the body functions during all involuntary encounters, from the most mundane tasks to the most extraordinary feats of strength and athleticism, and the peculiar method required to improve it, are not the same! In fact, they are, virtually, opposites, making the latter “counter-intuitive”, because involuntary encounters do not require a mental focus on the functions of the body. However, building a better functioning body to perform better does.

This deliberate introspection creates substantial psychological strain because as untainted ability is revealed, the chasm between the effort it takes to succeed and the reality of one’s actual ability to acquire a harm-free benefit is often discouraging, if not ego deflating.

“Genuine ability” is revealed by straining all the way through a challenge, with no relief, until it is succeeded, or until the challenge is overwhelming, causing failure. A thorough effort of this kind requires a body that is exceedingly capable. However, there are rather distinct differences between the raw effort of using the body in its current state, unconsciously, to work harder than normal, and the refined effort of intentionally improving its current functional state to prepare for a task before performing it with the typical and necessarily cavalier attitude.

The purest form of physical and psychological effort is imposed by extraordinary feats of athletic performance, or during any kind of life saving event. In those situations, the struggle to prevail is frequently so excessive that it causes acute physical harm, because the task is so demanding that an excessive strain is imposed on every tissue in the body, including, and maybe to an even greater extent, the more plastic tissues like, ligaments, cartilage, and yes, even bone!. However, the demand is so erratic, dispersed, and abrupt, that there is no room or time to plan or contemplate.

It’s all spontaneous, even when it goes on for a long while. In fact, during these kinds of challenges, thought i.e. consciousness, actually illuminates the chance of harm and even the risk of survival (in the most extreme instances), and this disrupts the requisite involuntary functions of the nervous system that provide the spontaneity.

It is because of this alarming realization that, ironically, the only useful contribution of awareness during these exceedingly risky challenges is to make a conscious effort to remain unconscious i.e. to distract the mind from the jeopardy. Otherwise, the manifestation of it is an overwhelming impediment of failure, which is exactly why it is most essential and more important to prepare for psychological effort rather than physical effort, in these instances.

Navy Seal’s, for example, need to be well conditioned, physically, but the emphasis of their training is to make them ready to tolerate the psychological strains and traumas of life threatening conditions. Therefore, the physical training only involves “raw” effort, regardless of the long term repercussions.

However, to minimize the damage to all of the aforementioned tissues in these strenuous situations, it is necessary to increase the contractile strength of the active, elastic tissues, which reduces the strain on the passive, non-contractile tissues that are only supposed to be the last line of defense to protect the skeleton. The scrupulous style of training to accomplish this would seem irrelevant and inconsequential to the person who is accustomed to prevail (or fail) at all costs.

In fact, the difference in the refined mental and physical effort required to build a better body and prepare it to tolerate the dangerous orthopedic demands of extraordinary challenges can seem so antithetical to normal function that it evokes a repulsive frustration, so it is reasonable to choose the instinctive comfort of pretense i.e. to perform “exercise” or conditioning, in the same manner as ordinary tasks, not only to spare psychological distress, but to feel, emotionally, like the unrefined effort will provide an obvious contribution to a successful, short term outcome.

World’s Strongest Man athletes have the “go for broke”, “succeed or fail at all costs” mentality (a distracted mental effort) required to strain for as hard and long as it takes to lift hundreds of pounds worth of mass (and sometimes, to move with it, for relatively long distances), using every tissue available, and mobilizing virtually every joint in the body, simultaneously, until they reach the competition imposed destination, or until it is impossible to continue.

However, the weight from the mass of the heavy loads these athletes encounter literally squeezes acceleration out of the performance, so it appears as though there is no inertial assistance, leaving nothing but the torque of resistance for the athlete to contest; a situation that not only becomes familiar, but addictive, as well.

It becomes so much the norm that, when given a reduced load, they will involuntarily move it with as much acceleration as possible, as if searching for the familiar sensation of resistance that isn’t there, because even when they are lifting extraordinary loads that suppress the rate of motion, they are still depending on their primal instincts to use the leverage of rotational inertia.

We are compelled to procure assistance, instinctively, because our muscles attach across their joints very close to the proximal end of the second bone, producing a leverage deficit (a.k.a. “mechanical disadvantage”). The further away the distal end of the bone is from this attachment, the more bone mass the muscle is required to transcend, which means, the more contentious the resistance of gravity.

Fortunately, we only need enough effort to emit brief tugs against the (bone) mass at the inception of the challenge. With a burst of force to launch it, we can actually take advantage of the remaining bone mass (or, capture a mechanical advantage), because, a sufficient moment of torque will cause its weight to carry i.e. accelerate the joint forward (at the other end) with no further significant effort.

Also, due to the tangential path created by the axis, the distal end of the second bone will travel a greater distance per moment (with more speed) than the more proximal joint end, enabling us to “go along for the ride”. (Rotational inertia from Part-A. That’s the assistance that compels us.)

Imagine what it would be like to cause the aforementioned kind of Power Sport athlete, accustomed to the complexity of simultaneous multi-joint function, to isolate a single pair of joints, and, place all of the mental effort, specifically, on tensing the mobilizers of that individual pair of joints, thoroughly, through their entire range, holding every other joint steady, while limiting the assistance of acceleration.

And, what if the challenge was not only limited to a single pair of joints, but also, a conscious shift from searching for the accustomed torque of resistance to the unfamiliar torque of muscle contraction (effort)? The only way to accomplish this would be to deliberately (counterintuitively) suppress the conscription of rotational inertia with a limited load, the same way as it is naturally suppressed by an extraordinary load.

This would mean that, rather than allowing for the abrupt, arbitrary burst of accelerating force, the athlete would be obligated to make indeed, the most counterintuitive, conscientious choice to locate the contractile sensation of the specific muscles most in the path of the resistance torque, and to create a gradual, methodical, increase in the sensation, first, before moving.

This would be the equivalent of loading every ounce of the resistance torque into a select few localized muscles while preventing all others from participating in the joint mobility being resisted, and concentrating the entire effort against the resistance as though it was as much as a competitive load, even though with these constraints, that is impossible. Suddenly, by minimizing the involuntary inertial influence, the effort required with a reduced load would seem just as strenuous as a competitive lift!

How implausible is that? Straining as much with a “feather-weight” as with the resistance of a competitive lift? The incredulity would certainly require a shift in conscious perspective, and the unfamiliar sense of humility would take patience to adjust to the unusual cause and effect.

While the extraordinary challenges of Power Sports disturb the involuntary advantage of rotational inertia, ordinary tasks require it. The use of inertial assistance is a survival tactic we develop from the moment we are born, because, to remain alive, we need to compensate for the gravity our environment imposes on us. (Even though the World’s Strongest Man Contest includes challenges so demanding that the assistance inducing acceleration is involuntarily minimized, the competitors are still searching for it, and performing as if the assistance was untainted, because it is our instinctive way of functioning a.k.a. modus operandi.)

Making work easier not only enables us to complete the job, but to encounter more, as needed. Because of this, rotational inertia is our ubiquitous ally. It is an involuntary impulse i.e. instinct. There is psychological comfort in clinging to it.

As much as acceleration induces assistance, inertia is also “resistance” to change. Every inorganic object is inert, and remains that way, until some force is imposed on it. We need the ability to use assisting effects of inertia because life cannot exist in a state of stagnation. Ironically, the same mobilizing assistance we need to survive (and enjoy life) causes joint stress that eventually wears us out.

Furthermore, enjoying life involves more than mundane tasks. We like to engage in recreational activities, like dancing, sports and Performance Training, but these can often increase joint wear, which begs the question, why not choose to prepare to tolerate excessive orthopedic demands, rather than expedite the inexorable damage?

The answer is, because the preparation requires us to learn how to use inertia as resistance, which is antithetical to our modus operandi. (That’s from where “Functional Training” was derived, as in, “train in the mode of the body’s function [operandi]. It’s the “mode” of the operandi that creates the problem. Instinct!)

Typically, the most demanding moment of a challenge is where the greatest amount of torque is imposed against our joints. The CNS reacts to this moment as though it is an assault, and the greater the disproportion of resistance torque to effort, the more threatening it is.

However, even if the load is so heavy that there is no appearance of acceleration, rotational inertia is still present. It’s just that the magnitude of the mass is suppressing it. The more suppressive it is, the more “life threatening” it becomes, and the more it jeopardizes life, the more it provokes the instinct to move.  This is the primordial “fight or flight” directive of survival.  

The main purpose of the Central Nervous System is to retain order in the functional state of all the systems it manages. The only way it will permit its stasis to mutate i.e. to adapt, is to impose thoughtful, refined challenges that are undetectable threats, a.k.a. “adaptation to strategically imposed demands” (Eric Glickstein). To build a better body, it’s not about the rate of acceleration, but about denying a subconscious sense of disorder.

The aforementioned pretense is in opting for psychological comfort and ignoring the preparation, and the repercussion is an over-dose of rotational inertia to perform work, at the expense of orthopedic health. This is one, and maybe the most significant “Paradox of Function”. We are all “assistance” junkies. We’ve been nurtured with it since birth, but, as rotational inertia ensures survival, it gradually induces our demise. And here’s another discrepancy to consider:

When we are performing anything, from ordinary tasks to extraordinary feats of athletics, the more assistance we can recruit, the better, but, in almost all instances, the work, mobile or static, is generated from muscles that are in a state of limited convergence.

Convergence is a replacement for the more familiar term used to describe the contractile state of a muscle; concentric contraction. The discontent with this combination is, since it produces force, it is unfeasible to associate “concentric” with contraction because the force it produces travels on a linear path. However, the mobility of its joint is rotational, so…..

….when muscle fibers converge, it causes an inward spiral of joint mobility; the kind that enables us to move, or to move something, involuntarily, and when the joint recovers and returns to its original state, it unwinds in an eccentric spiral. Since mobility is associated with torque, it is more reasonable to describe the function as “concentric torque”, and its conseqence as “concentric mobility” whereby, to produce movement, muscle contraction produces tension that produces torque that produces concentric joint mobility.

(When we move (involuntarily), the torque of joint mobility is always increasing. As the joints of the movement are recovering and resetting for the next movement, the ambulatory moments of torque are always decreasing.)

The significance of this is that the eccentric phase does not require an increase in (eccentric) torque. It is necessary to permit the applied resistance from gravity and/or any additional mass, to transcend the concentric torque of effort i.e. win the proverbial “tug of war”, causing the mobilizers to recover, which is why it is known as the recovery phase of movement (to begin with).

During this phase, there is no strain whatsoever on the mobilizers, so only the concentric torque of their contractions is being challenged, and only to a limited extent of their joints’ range, for that matter, because very few physical tasks require joints to reach end ranges (unless we are straining to reach for something slightly beyond our grasp, etc.).

(Very few involuntary tasks involve eccentric torque either, except activities like walking down stairs or sliding down a snow covered mountain-side on skis, etc.)

In fact, the concentric torque we live with isn’t even required through the entire range of limited joint mobility due to the assistance of rotational inertia, and, what’s worse, this mid-range challenge does not provide sufficient contractile strength for joint stability, but, because the end ranges are ignored, it does lead to orthopedic demise.

FULL RANGE OF MOTION VS FULL RANGE OF JOINT MOBILITY

Even though the distinction is not recognized by the Fitness Industry, movement, motion and mobility are not synonymous, but, what is acknowledged by every certification course in the world is that it is necessary to “move through a full range of motion”. What is not being considered is, what motion? How is the range determined, and, most importantly, is the source of the movement being considered or ignored?

Should we “move” through a full range of motion, or contract through a full range of joint mobility? With regard to exercise, this discrepancy has enormous ramifications on the outcome of the challenge.

When the source is considered, mobility pertains to the maximal distance the tension of a muscle contraction can torque its joint on its axis. That’s the distinction. Mobility is the torque of muscle contraction. Conversely, motion is the by-product of inertial assistance caused by a short burst of tension at minimal joint rotation and limited contractile length. Mobility involves contraction (inside the body), motion is associated only with its consequence of movement (on the outside).

When not considering the length of muscle contraction where tension can be produced to torque its joint, the range of motion is assessed (only) by the movement the body and/or the equipment will allow. Since it is not about the torque, and this is how it is taught, Fitness educators are suggesting that exercise should be performed exactly like ordinary tasks i.e. according to the modus operandi that occurs outside the body.

As far as they are concerned (literally), the modus operandi is movement. To them, the entire effort is based on it, which is why, as stated earlier, their performance standard of physics is not only indiscriminate, but incomplete.

When the effort is placed exclusively on movement, the physics of the effort is limited to the magnitude of the resistance and on the magnitude of acceleration to transcend it. The conscious effort is on ignoring all sensations to push through the pain, and to strain to the end. The psychological effort is on the resolve to complete the task, at all costs.

Since the “modus” of their operandi is based on how things appear (on the outside), movement is the only function (that matters). Their version of the kind of function is simulation; to simulate movement. It’s no wonder that online training, in-home fitness simulators like the “Mirror” and Peloton, and in-person Performance Training like “Cross-Fit?”, have such a pervasive consumer influence.

It is because exercise has been reduced to its most basic, irresponsibly comprehensible standard; to simply move, or if it is unknown, to simply imitate it, as much as necessary, until it is “imprinted”, as an acquired tendency, regardless of the cost. 

There is no regard for the source of movement i.e. the torque from the tension of muscle contraction. There is no regard for the distance a particular joint is capable of reaching, concentrically and eccentrically. Even when they consider how much range of motion the body will “allow”, they are not considering the independent mobility of each individual joint that comprises the exercise/performance, or the contractile contributions of all the participating musculature.

There is no regard for the leverage of muscle contraction compared to the disproportionate distance and direction of the resistance that must be exceeded to prevail. All of these prerequisites are ignored.

The confluence of all these many indifferences is movement that imposes a partial challenge. In other words, when performing exercise with this superficial, indifferent concept of “full range of motion”, muscles are not being challenged through the full range of their joints’ excursions. What’s worse, they are not even being challenged thoroughly, within the limited range of motion required by the performance, but that, supposedly, isn’t a problem, because the force of muscle, allegedly, is irrelevant. 

In their estimation, the client’s physics don’t matter. The purpose of exercise is all about the by-products of the work; more strength (not the contractile kind), endurance, muscularity, fat loss, etc.

However, when all of the genuinely functional factors are ignored, there can be no regard for elastic tissue tolerance, and without that, there can be no regard for the more plastic tissue tolerance.

Muscle strain leads to tendon malfunction. Tendon malfunction leads to joint instability. Joint instability increases demand on ligaments, causing them to function poorly. Ligament malfunction causes more stress on cartilage, until the padding wears out. Ultimately, there is no concern for orthopedic health. Arthritis is a most likely inevitability.

Without regard for the physics, the precepts of this Fitness culture produce Trainers who become good motivators, but not so good at mediating, because they don’t learn what to search for when they are observing client performance, and they really don’t even know what they are seeing while they are observing.

Indiscriminate movement has no bearing on internal function. Only on external performance. Without the benefit of this intrinsic, neuro-musculoskeletal perspective, and with absolutely no awareness of the resistance mechanics that comprise the challenge, it simply is not possible to make coherent tactical decisions for a person to proceed, or to provide adequate preparation for physical encounters, especially those that are unfamiliar.

Consequently, unprepared physical exertion of any kind is toxic. Even if it is “exercise” (and especially when it is), it is orthopedic poison. The antidote for this is in knowing through how much of a muscle’s maximal joint range it is capable of producing the torque of its tension. This is what makes a body function better, and improves performance with diminished joint wear, regardless of the joint mobility requirements of the task. (More about this later.)

Ultimately, the reason we are addicted to the rotational inertia is because the torque we need to exceed is inconsistent with the torque our muscles can gather, so we shift to the “auto-pilot” of the nervous system for assistance, to compensate for the discrepancy. This “Functional Paradox” is the aggregate of all the aforementioned inconsistencies that gradually and inexorably impose orthopedic wear. 

EXERCISE IS THE MEDICINE

On the contrary, amenable challenges that evoke adaptation require a conscious effort to make work more difficult, which is the counterintuitive strategy to use inertia as resistance against task specific joint mobilizers. It begins by imposing resistance torque that matches the threshold of a persons’ effort, or “torque-ability” a.k.a. customized exercise for musculoskeletal preparation; the antidote of orthopedic risk.

The next step in the process is to use the customized exercise as a source of practice to synchronize the sensation of muscle contraction with the leverage it provides and thereby, to transcend the strategically imposed resistance. The impending neuro-musculoskeletal coordination compliments adaption to the heightened influence of mobility. This is the medicine the Central Nervous System requires to permit the goal specific mutation of its stasis, which, in this case, is to enable the torque of muscle contraction to persist through the entire range of its joints’ rotation.

The genuine increase in “torque-ability” resolves the need to focus on musculoskeletal functions (mental effort) and endows a person with the preordained ability to focus on the involuntary functions of the task, or, if it is extraordinarily demanding, on some other distraction, because the leverage fits as though it was always there. In fact, it is (always there).

The brain just needs a source to locate it, and when it does, the conscious effort becomes absorbed into the lexicon of the subconscious, where it is left to the discretion of the CNS to administer and distribute as needed. This means that the adaptation will transfer to other tasks, which makes it useful, or functional.

The strength benefit increases joint function, and secures joint structure. The increase in the state of joint function enables the body to work better, sparing the strain on non-contractile tissues that otherwise leads to arthritic conditions.

Although that sounds like an authentic description of “Functional Training”, it is not how it is portrayed by the Fitness Industry. Their version, as stated, is as dysfunctional as their version of Personal Training is impersonal.

With this in mind, ability takes on a whole new meaning. It represents the muscular leverage i.e. the surplus of torque to transcend the amount imposed by the source of resistance, and, as this preparation defines ability, it is much better/safer (for the typically unprepared Fitness Consumer) to be able but unwilling, than willing, but unable.