system, visualise a person who is attached by
their feet to the end of a bungee cord as they
jump off a bridge. If the bungee cord gets the
right amount of tension on it as the person
nears the ground, then he or she will be saved
from smashing into the earth. However, if the
bungee cord doesn’t pull tight at the right
time, the person will impact the ground with
dire consequences. The muscles of our
body act in a similar way. If these ‘bungee
cords’ work together they can protect our
musculoskeletal structures (especially the
joints) from excessive stress by pulling tight
at the right moment to help slow down force
through our body as it moves and interacts
with the ground or an object.
In addition to controlling forces through the
body, our body’s muscular bungee cord system
also stores energy that can be used to create
strong, powerful movements as this energy is
released (i.e. when the muscle fibres contract).
Just like when the bungee cord reaches
its maximum stretch and pulls the person
powerfully back up to where the bungee cord is
anchored, our muscles contract powerfully to
create and continue movement.
A fresh approach to anatomy and
exercise
Understanding anatomy in real-life terms
and thinking about how muscles in the body
work to slow down the forces of nature by
lengthening like bungee cords will enable
you to create effective exercises that build
strength, improve function and eliminate pain.
Here are two examples of how you might
apply this new way of thinking about muscle
function to design better exercises.
lunging) the stored energy in these structures
created by lengthening subsequently assists
the soleus muscle to shorten and contract to
help plantarflex the ankle (i.e. push the foot
down) and straighten the knee.
Hence, the real-life function of the soleus
muscle (via the Achilles tendon) is to slow
down dorsiflexion (i.e. bending) of the ankle
and flexion (i.e. bending) of the knee. As such,
a more appropriate functional exercise for
strengthening the soleus muscle would be
deep squats where the ankle and knee are
flexing together. This exercise would help train
and strengthen the tissues of the lower leg to
better absorb shock to the ankle and knee,
and maximise the stored energy potential of
the muscle to improve performance.
Bear in mind that most people will
not be used to performing exercises that
work muscles in primarily an eccentric
(i.e. lengthening) fashion, and doing so
can be surprisingly taxing to the muscles
and joints. Therefore, before beginning or
recommending any program of functional
strengthening that includes exercises that
place the muscles under a lengthening
load, perform self-myofascial and isolated
stretching exercises to help prepare the
tissues for these additional stressors. For
example, before attempting the deep squat
above, have clients massage and stretch their
calf muscles and quadriceps (as the knee will
also be flexing) (Price and Bratcher, 2010).
2. The erectors and abdominals
Traditional anatomy teaches that the erector
spinae group of muscles helps straighten the
1. The lower leg
The Achilles tendon is a very important
structure in the lower leg that connects the
calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) to the
calcaneus, or heel bone. The Achilles tendon
and calf muscles help produce a lot of energy to
assist with powerful movements like squatting,
lunging, walking, jogging and running.
When a person is performing actions such
as squatting, lunging, or going up stairs, the
lower leg (i.e. tibia and fibula) moves forward
over the foot as the heel remains planted on the
ground. This forward movement of the lower
leg causes the Achilles tendon and soleus to
elongate which helps load the ‘bungee cord’
feature of these tissues (see Figure 1).
Traditionally, we have been taught that
the primary action of the soleus muscle is to
plantarflex the ankle when the knee is bent
(Kendall. et. al., 2005). This is why seated calf
raises are commonly recommended as an
exercise to work the soleus muscle. However,
in real-life movements (e.g. squatting and
62 | NETWORK SPRING 2014
Figure 2: The bungee cord systems of abdominals
and erector spinae ()