The concept of muscle development is too often considered to be excessively "rigid"; in the sense that it is based on the conditioning of "a" certain muscle district with the sole purpose of increasing as much as possible the expression of force for the whole ROM (Range of Motion) - at best, of course.
Note: by strength we mean the complete expression of the term, therefore fast, explosive and maximum strength.
Having said that, strength, although a conditional capacity proper, if developed only in an excessively specific way, can be "scarcely applicable" in global mobility.
For further information: Functional Training: What it is and what it is used for is limited *, our processing potential is unable to effectively control the innumerable afferents that come from the muscles, resulting in a loss of balance, therefore poor management of the body in space and a lack of stability.
* How can it happen after a surgery or an injury that "momentarily" compromises the proprioceptive afferents - that is, the information signals that come from the periphery towards the Central Nervous System (CNS).
When these lack of adaptability occur in healthy subjects - even with highly developed physical abilities - at best they will worsen athletic performance or, at worst, they could suffer an injury.
Since certain situations should undoubtedly be prevented, improving stability must be a prerogative. Increasing the functional abilities of the athlete or any person dedicated to fitness is therefore not only important at a performance level, but also as a precaution.
What is observed in rehabilitation in general is the search for capacity in terms of movement, flexibility and elasticity, but above all to receive and process information from the anatomical district involved, or the search for proprioception.
Methods for improving proprioception
In fine rehabilitation, a very versatile methodology that bases the concept of rehabilitation on proprioceptive-cognitive abilities, is the "Perfetti Method", which is widely used in "Neurorehabilitation" but also in "Orthopedic Rehabilitation", structuring the rehabilitation protocol on "cognitive theory", which in any case brings us back to the concept of afferents and data processing in the CNS and adaptation response to the created condition.
Object of study in the science of rehabilitation was the improvement of the functionality of the "rehabilitated" anatomical district compared to the "healthy" one. In other words, it is observed that at the end or already during a sectoral functional recovery period, therefore not global, there is an increase in the capacities of that segment even compared to the healthy counterpart.
Often following an injury, after a complete functional recovery, the affected area can even improve compared to the period before the injury.
This happens because, during rehabilitation, techniques are used which aim to recover "all" the functions that have been potentially lost and which allow the individual to relate to 360 ° with the surrounding environment.
during the execution of the movement.
The stresses of these deep muscles will increase the potential of an athletic gesture, which without the help of these "stabilizers" could be lacking.
In "functional training, stabilization is therefore sought, by recruiting those muscles that in classical exercises intervene in very small or almost zero percentages.
This type of approach requires work on the three planes of space: Frontal, Sagittal, Traverse.
of any training system, in order to increase all physical abilities.
Integrating functional training with classic muscle-building exercises in fitness can prove to be a very powerful trick.
In the case of bodybuilding, the subject will have greater ability to perform the exercises, which will result in an increase in the loads used, therefore an increase in the intensity of the workouts with increased muscle growth.
Importance of the rotator cuff for sprains
The concept of stabilization is constantly applied in the gym. Just think of the enormous difficulty that comes with moving from an exercise like flat bench press to dumbbell press - let alone starting with a bench press machine.
A person who can push a 100 kg barbell for 10 repetitions (rep) will very unlikely be able to do as many with two 50 kg dumbbells - despite the overload being the same.
The problem is precisely the stabilization of the movement, in addition to the obvious practical difficulty in getting into the starting position, but this is another matter.
To improve performance in dumbbell presses, the chest table could be supplemented first with a functional training exercise such as push-up on medicine balls or its variants.
These movements create a condition of destabilization which force the intrinsic muscles of the shoulder to create the condition of balance for the execution of the exercise; this determines an increase in strength in the joint "fixators" which will consequently lead to an increase in strength in the stretching with the dumbbells.
Training the rotator cuff carefully has a protective effect on the shoulder joint, increasing performance even in the horizontal bench press.
Core training: what it is and what it is for
Intrinsic muscles, such as those just mentioned, are also recruited in other large joints, as well as along the entire spine. Just think of the muscles surrounding the hip to understand how well they perform the task of stabilizers.
The basis for a solid body resides in the lower limbs, especially in the ankle; but what allows a body to be stable is undoubtedly the trunk, understood as a set of muscles and bones that go from the pelvis to the occiput along the entire spine, as well as from the pelvis to the rib cage.
These anatomical structures, due to their importance in stabilization, have led to the introduction of another concept of "functional training or that of" core training ". It defines the primary functionality of the trunk muscles in order to optimize any gesture that requires stability.
If, for example, in a free squat with a fairly high load, the "core" is weak, not only would you risk falling, but even create damage to your back.
In this case, for example, exercises such as "bridge on swiss ball" and "hip lift on swiss ball" would be useful.
- In the first, for the maintenance of posture, a control of the body is used on the three planes of space, through continuous contractions of the core muscles, as well as the muscles of the shoulder, chest, back, arms, hip flexors up to at the ankles.
- In the second, more control is used through the intrinsic muscles of the hip and ankles, as well as the hamstrings, lower back and paravertebral up to the nape, then the entire posterior chain.
When these muscles are recruited into the squat, they will fully perform their task of stabilizers as well as fixators, allowing an increase in stability in the movement and therefore also the use of more important loads.
training could include, obviously integrated with cycles of strength, speed, rapidity, hypertrophy, programs on a weekly or monthly basis, training sessions entirely dedicated to functional training, retesting the subject immediately after this period to compare the differences when returning to workouts for other physical abilities.
The equipment can be very simple: from trivial football or basketball balls to other objects that create precarious stability conditions such as discs on half spheres or simple boards on sticks.
The increase in strength following a functional training program can prove to be very important in a training planning context.
This method can integrate the figure of the Personal Fitness Trainer in the context of functional rehabilitation-re-education which will have the task of giving the subject-patient the possibility - through adequate fitness programs - to return to daily gestures as well as increase physical skills and establish a line of lifestyle aimed at managing one's body in healthy terms.
Very important is the progression associated with subjectivity. It can be said that stability certainly has an age-related trend, in the sense that a person of advanced age will not have the same abilities as in previous years; however, an adequately trained middle-aged person may be able to perform better movements and gestures. of a very young untrained.
For further information: Functional Training: What's True?
