Stop Using Bad Language!

Right at the start of my free training called “Mind The Gap - The Big 4” I ask the viewer “What does tight actually mean” …

When I ask professionals this question, the answers I receive are typically couched in terms of symptoms or other adjectives. 

I then ask them to have another go at defining 'tight', without using symptoms or adjectives. And they find this REALLY hard.

Have a go yourself … 

Let’s widen this discussion to much of the language we all use about muscle issues that we can feel:

• Tight

• Weak

• Inhibited

• Over-Active

• Under-Active

• Stiff

• Knots

• (and many other terms)

And also the language we all use about things we DO to muscles:

• Release

• Stretch

• Strengthen

• Condition

• (and others)

What do all these terms actually MEAN?

And why are we all taught to explicitly link the above adjectives with these interventions?

The other day I wrote on social media that ‘Tight and Weak Are Not Valid Clinical Conclusions’

Now, I should say at this point that our clients will always use the above terms, and this is unlikely to change in the short term.

But should we, as professionals, be using any of the above terms?

No, we shouldn’t!

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Do symptoms or adjectives about muscles tell us anything useful about what is going on inside a muscle? 

No, they don’t!

When I ask the question, “What do all these terms actually MEAN?”, what am I referring to?

Clinically, the above list of muscle 'issues' is best understood through adverse changes in 2 key components:

• A Muscle's PHYSICAL STRUCTURE 

• A Muscle's FUNCTION

When I say PHYSICAL STRUCTURE, I mean Physiology; how the muscle is made up and whether there is anything dysfunctional in this makeup that is delivering what we see and feel.

In my next blog instalment, I will be exploring the age-old (but misguided) mantra of “Treat what you see and treat what you feel”.

And when I say 'A Muscle's FUNCTION', I mean the muscle’s biomechanics and biochemistry; how well are they performing their correct job as per their design? 

• Firstly, I can say with 100% certainty, that every single client I have seen, every single client my coaching clients have seen and every single client my mentors have seen, over ~10-15 years (that’s 000s of clients), have issues with muscle PHYSICAL STRUCTURE and  MUSCLE FUNCTION. 

• Secondly, every single one of the above clients has muscles not performing their “by design” function correctly i.e. muscles not performing their correct function, at the correct time, in the correct way, for the correct reason.

• Thirdly, the problems that these clients come to see us about ALWAYS involve restoring muscle STRUCTURE and muscle FUNCTION, to ensure that muscles involved in their specific issue are performing their correct function, at the correct time, in the correct way, for the correct reason. 

So, instead of using terms such as:

• Tight

• Weak

• Inhibited

• Over-Active

• Under-Active

• Stiff

• and Knots

We need to establish what precisely is going on with muscle STRUCTURE (Physiology) and muscle FUNCTION (Biomechanics and Biochemistry).

And, once we have established these points (on a muscle-by-muscle basis), and validated our findings (a skill not routinely taught), we can then design an intervention strategy to RESTORE muscle STRUCTURE (Physiology) and muscle FUNCTION (Biomechanics and Biochemistry) so that muscles are performing their correct function, at the correct time, in the correct way, for the correct reason.

Rather than merely falling back on what we are all taught:

• Releasing Muscles

• Stretching Muscles

• Strengthening Muscles

• Conditioning Muscles

One final really important point …

I hear professionals use the term RELEASE all too frequently.

But what does RELEASE (when it comes to muscles) actually mean? 

(What SPECIFIC Physiological or Functional CHANGE is RELEASING designed to achieve?)

I explore this (and many other imprecise and meaningless terms) in quite a bit of detail in my free training called “Mind The Gap - The Big 4”.

I’ll leave you with this thought …

Could a muscle feel the way it feels because it is providing a vital supporting role because something else (a structure or muscle group) is not performing its ‘by design’ job correctly? 

And if we dive in to RELEASE this muscle that is providing a vital supporting role, what is likely to happen?

To Conclude …

As clinical soft tissue professionals, we need to be far more PRECISE in the language and terminology we use to describe and analyse client musculoskeletal problems. 

In my coaching programmes, I introduce a new language around “Muscle Misbehaviour”, along with tools and techniques specifically designed to INVESTIGATE, VALIDATE and RESTORE muscle STRUCTURE (Physiology) and muscle FUNCTION (Biomechanics and Biochemistry) so that muscles are performing their correct function, at the correct time, in the correct way, for the correct reason. 

Once seen, this new way of looking at, explaining and resolving musculoskeletal problems cannot be unseen!

My free training called “Mind The Gap - The Big 4” can be found here ➜ https://learning.theintegratedfitpro.com/the-big-4 .