Old Forum whole body tension

[subinmohan]

pavel,you told to contract an agonist and relax an antogonist for lifting max but for deadlift contracting body from head to toe in power to people.contradictary…..thanks in advance.

 

[Brett Jones]

subin

Can you provide a link or quote for these (for context)?

Also - is there a question in there or just a perceived contradiction?

 

[subinmohan]

its just a question.look you guys say strength is about contracting muscles harder.after reading an article on muscle control i understood that we can definitely contract our biceps to point of cramping with other muscles relaxed than by tensing glutes abs and making a knukle cause this causes the antagonist triceps to tense than relax.then why to use whole body tension,thats whats buggin me.

 

[Brett Jones]

Subin,

do you have a link to the article on muscle control?

There is a difference between MVC (maximum voluntary contraction) for an isolated muscle and Irradiation for lifting "max" weights etc...

to stick with the biceps example - How many Chin ups would you get if you "isolated" your bicep vs. how many chin ups would you get if you had your lats, abs, arms etc.... all working in the chin up?

It is simply "right strategy for the right moment"

But we also have to consider that muscles never really work in "isolation" but rather function in patterns working together as agonist and antagonist to "balance" force, joint position etc.... Look up "Lumbard's Paradox" (how the quads and hams work together in standing up out of a chair)

Which muscle should be relax for the DL?  None of them IMO

Pavel's description of the dominata is great - "enough tension to enhance the lift but not so much tension that it becomes the goal of the lift"

 

[subinmohan]

sorry couldnt find the article now.will post when i find it.well thanks for the superb answer......is there anything you do not know?brilliant