Make Waves

More and more I’m trying to get out of seeing the body through some Platonic lens where this muscle performs that action. I think it’s far more interesting to see the unique nature of everybody. To highlight the differences that exist within all of us. One way to do this is to think more about how our individual muscle fibers feel rather than over studding the idea of kinesiology.

For a while, been playing with the idea of stadium waves as a metaphor for how our neuromuscular system works. For those not familiar with a stadium wave it is when people seated in stadiums stand up for a synchronized moment right after the people seated to the side of them sit down. As soon as they sit down the people to their other side stand up for a moment as well. As this activity cascades down the rows of spectators, it appears as the name implies, that a wave is going through the crowd.

If we ask ourselves what a wave is in scientific terms, it is when energy passes through a medium. Think of a surfer who rides a wave. Because they can attach themself to a current of energy they are propelled to the shore. This is opposed to ducks who bob up and down on water doing there best to ignore the waves.

So when we see a wave at a stadium event we are witnessing an actual wave of sorts. While the sources of the kinetic energy created during stadium waves are generated individually by its participants there is a collective intent motivating everyone to immerse themselves in this experience. The impulse to stand that is traveling through everyone in creating a wave. The individual people who are standing are the water in this analogy.

We can use this idea as a lens into how our muscular works. Skeletal muscle cells contract when an efferent (motor) nerve release acetylcholine into its fibers. When this happens our muscle contrast. Muscle contractions are a zero-sum activity. There are no muscle cells that are partial contrasted or extra contrasted. Muscles cells can only exist in one of two states contrasted and not contrasted. To generate more muscular force requires us to contrast more muscles. This means that we should want as many of our muscle cells to be able to contract.

This is not often the case though. Injuries are quite common. Not all injuries are severe. Many of them are quite small. Some we don’t even perceive happening. If anyone has had scratches or bruises that they did know how I got you to know what I mean. But with every injury no matter how small we receive information about how to navigate the world. We learn not to do something to avoid future injuries. When we add up all the effects of these injuries, even if they are minor, we can easily understand how our mobility becomes limited as we age.

If we think about the wave again let imagine 5 people in their head somehow getting up. They refuse to partake in future waves. How much will that affect how the wave? Not much. Now suppose this keeps happening. Every time there a wave a there a couple more people who sit it out. How spindly would our wave become at the end of the game?

This is what happens to our neuromuscular system over our lifetimes. Our muscle fibers loose connections to our nervous system. At a time of year when many of us will reconnect to various health practices which includes massage, we should ask ourselves not what we can gain but what we can retain.

I Tend to stretch people quite a bit during massage sessions. One thing that I noticed is there a point when mobilizing a limb when we reach an endpoint of fluid movement. Usually, the body can move past this point with little trouble. Mentally and emotionally though people often tense up as if they are unaccustomed to moving in these ways. Gently moving past these points of fear helps re-establish our natural agility. By engaging dormant strands of our neuromuscular system to expand our movement potential. And just as the more people who partake in a stadium wave the more fluid and healthy it becomes we too benefit from the individual participation of our muscle fibers.

Anthony Bruni