4 Ways to Add Load

Let’s talk LOAD. Often when we think about strength training, we imagine lifting weights. But handling external load originates from within. It begins with a signal between the nervous system and the cells of specific tissues which comprise and mobilize our joints. These tissues emerge from bone as ligaments, tendons, and fascia... then merge into muscle... then converge back into bone.

At Excelsior, we are interested in strengthening this entire chain-- from the neurology to the tissue cells which help bear and disperse force. Most often we begin that process not with external load but with internal load known as irradiation. The “Law of Irradiation” (Sherrington) states that when a muscle contracts with higher force, it’s able to recruit neighboring muscles to work at the same time, creating a greater signal to the target tissue.

Irradiation is when we squeeze hard through training level CARs, or when we find the end range of a joint and ramp up a contraction there isometrically. This is load. And It is the foundation of much of the work we do in the clinic and class which interrupts pain patterns, signals precursors for strength that reach all way to the joint capsule, and allows any individual to train at their own level of effort.

Find out more in clinic or class.

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