Sorry, I have no idea what "attractor states" are.
This will be a long post, and while I think its a very important topic to understand, its honestly more for my own re-edification than anything, but I hope its of interest to someone:
"Attractor State" is a term from dynamics systems theory, adopted by motor learning .
Per google:
"An attractor state is a stable state of organisation. Think of it as an individual's coordination tendency. For example, every time we move, our body organizes itself into an attractor state which enables functional movements to occur"
If your attractors are good you move good. If they're bad you move bad.
An example would be tension in the hip joint during a squat.
If the hip joint is an attractor, the relative tension between hip tissues should remain unchanged during movement.
This keeps the joint
"centrated", or in the optimal position for movement (
keeps the femoral head in proper position).
If this occurs - if this tension is present,
then hip tension is an attractor - it stays the same while other variables change during squat patterns (e.g. ankle tension)
The stronger this attractor state is, the more you can change other variables during the squat pattern without affecting hip function (e.g. change of foot placement, bar placement, back angle, single leg, etc.)
If the hip isn't an attractor (or is a weak attractor), then the relative tension around the hip will change as you vary squat patterns.
For example, if you squat high bar and your hip is fine, but you change to low bar and your femoral head gets pulled anteriorly (pulled out of a
"centrated" position).
And since the hip
is an attractor during squats*, you should establish it before going crazy on squats.
Same for the humeral head in the shoulder.
An attractor is what establishes the feed-forward mechanism of movement.
For example, if you have the hip as an attractor, it dictates what moves during the squat and in what sequence to accomplish the goal.
If the ankle becomes an attractor, or the knee, this is bad. Other joints will move to compensate
You can find the attractor states of human movement by observing developmental kinesiology.
Babies are born with "completely" mobile joints - no tension.
They then develop tension from the diaphragm outwards (the diaphragm should be your main attractor).
They then gain control in their neck, establishing head position as a
very strong (stable) attractor.
Then comes the hip & shoulder joints, again establishing strong attractors.
It progresses form there, but the attractors become less strong/stable and vary more.
You can "destabilize" an attractor through injury, repetitive patterns, psychoactive substances, and other things.
When a "normal" attractor gets destabilized, a new attractor must takes its place for the system to remain balanced.
This is what causes chronically impaired movement - establishment of an aberrant attractor, which becomes very strong.
A great way to think about this in terms of the "attractor well".
The stronger the attractor, the deeper the well, and the less likely it will get destabilized.
(orange ball = attractor)
If an attractor is has a shallow well
(is weak) it is more likely to get "knocked out" of the well, and a new attractor put in its place.
All in all, this is what my previous recommendations are based on.
If anyone is more well versed in the topic than I am, please correct any mistakes (I'm sure there are bounds).
I'd also be interested in discussing with you more on this topic, perhaps in a dedicated thread or DM (its hard to find people outside of academia interested in this stuff - and most academicians don't train lol).
(the Original Strength stuff is a great example of this knowledge in action, though I don't know if Tim or Geoff is familiar with any of this theory as I haven't seen them mention it).
Okay, I'll shut up now.
