#69: Movement, Asymmetries, and Muscle Activation

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

Athletes can often worry that they are “out of alignment” or that the little hip shift that they have in their squat is limiting their progress.

And, to be fair, movement issues can cause some significant problems for people!

Still, many folks think of their movement as being either “correct” or “incorrect” in a way that can be unhelpful. There’s also many misconceptions about the need to “activate” certain muscles or that things “aren’t firing.”

While this colloquial way of talking about things can be a useful shorthand, it can confuse people in a way that results in them spending a bunch of time doing silly warm-up routines or burn a bunch of brain power worrying about minor asymmetries that everyone has.

Check out the full conversation with Luke and Todd to hear how we think about movement, asymmetries, and muscle imbalances.

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Show Notes:

• [0:13] Some common misconceptions surrounding muscle activation, asymmetries, and overly mechanical ways of looking at movement
• [06:57] Movement is more about the nervous system than the muscular system. Asymmetries are natural and aren’t something to “fix”
• [13:55] Many things — like Active Release Technique, stretching, and low carb diets — can be effective, but often not for the reason that gurus say they are effective.
• [22:30] Doing things “to feel good” is a better framing than doing things to “correct imbalances”
• [30:30] Some of the downsides to athletes thinking that they are fragile. Plus, an update on Luke’s Catalan progress.