What does it actually really mean when someone says they’ve got muscles that aren’t firing properly?
Is it indiviual fibers or clumps of fibers in a specific muscle group?
What causes it, what fixes it?
Thanks…
I need to hear it in the right context.
[quote]Crow wrote:
I need to hear it in the right context.[/quote]
I don’t understand…but what made me post the question was something over on the Stones and Tires thread, where Brad said he was getting therapy in part to fix the muscles that weren’t firing properly (paraphrased).
its when you arent using a muscle as effectively as you should… Cressey has some good articles on how to fix it…
Ie when your lifting your glutes might engage to late or too early… They arent being recruited optimally
Quoting Cressey
[quote]We see tons of injuries to the hamstrings and lower back, but rarely encounter any sort of injury to the glutes. The fact of the matter is that most athletes are tight in the hamstrings, lower back and hip flexors. This collection of problems is related to a lack of strength and motor control in the gluteal muscles. When the hip flexors (antagonists to the gluteus maximus) are overactive, the gluteus maximus becomes weak via a mechanism known as reciprocal inhibition.
Furthermore, when our “butt” muscles aren?t up to the task, the hamstrings and erector spinae muscles are forced to work overtime to compensate. This is known as synergistic dominance. This unfortunate cycle often results in injury, or at the very least, sub-optimal levels of performance.
Now before we go on, let?s clarify one thing: the hip is a joint, not a muscle. So when we say “hip musculature,” to what muscles are we actually referring? Also, what are their specific roles? Keep reading to find out!
Note: If long strings of big muscley words bore you to tears, you can skip this next section and go right to the sexy exercises.
[/quote]
Hes just a tad more elegant with his wording than I 
[quote]Chris Aus wrote:
its when you arent using a muscle as effectively as you should… Cressey has some good articles on how to fix it…
Ie when your lifting your glutes might engage to late or too early… They arent being recruited optimally[/quote]
Thanks Chris.
I’ll start searching through the archives.
In the meantime though, I still don’t get what causes it–is it simply related to inflexibility or is it neurological in nature etc.
Thanks.
[quote]Joe Weider wrote:
Chris Aus wrote:
its when you arent using a muscle as effectively as you should… Cressey has some good articles on how to fix it…
Ie when your lifting your glutes might engage to late or too early… They arent being recruited optimally
Thanks Chris.
I’ll start searching through the archives.
In the meantime though, I still don’t get what causes it–is it simply related to inflexibility or is it neurological in nature etc.
Thanks.[/quote]
Neurological.
Ive seen talk of dramatic increases in vertical leap etc by getting the hamstrings and glutes to fire more appropriately… Ive never actually seen it though. Its an area that Id be interested in learning about in the future, sounds really interesting. I dont know much about it at the moment.
is it just hamstrings and glutes or can other muscles be affected?
Hey, can we get Cressey or someone else that’s smart to write an article about this???
Please???