Bio-Tensegrity or How We Function
by Dennis Gibbons, LMT
Dennis Gibbons, LMT
Marge and I wish everyone a Happy Holiday season and may 2010 bring everyone all of their wishes and dreams. Although this past year has been a different one with many changes, we feel blessed with all of the good that has happened in our life. We will be celebrating Christmas with our children and grandchildren who are all healthy and thankfully, gainfully employed. May this season bring you much love and peace, and please let us remember the true reason for the season. That is for all Christians the remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ, Merry Christmas.
Over the past few months I have talked about the theory and practice of Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® and Fundamental Movement Pilates℠. How the thought process needed to be simple and how it tied into my own personal experiences. This month we will be discussing the process and how it works.
The goal of Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® is to facilitate the most efficient posture or structure to maximize pain-free movement patterns that the individual can maintain. The goal of Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ is to help the individual re-pattern their movement patterns to optimize their posture to move freely in their daily life. Neither is meant to be a quick fix but a beginning to a lifestyle that is more comfortable.
What happens shortly after conception is a patterned movement. A pattern is defined as a model to be followed in making things and a composite of traits or characteristics. What we soon develop in the embryonic stage are habits or patterns of behavior acquired by frequent repetition. Once the paradigm or model is established the parameters are sufficient to allow the proper patterns to work within itself. This begins the basic formula of Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® and Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ which is:
Function equals Movement
Structure determines Movement
Movement reveals Structure
Structure is your posture and movement reveals all of its qualities. There are many text book analogies of what posture is too look like and how it is to perform. As mentioned in an earlier article, when I worked with Rudolph Nureyev and asked him what made people from all over come to see him dance his response was, “I close my eyes and pick up the energy of the audience and dance to that energy.” That is what made his performances so memorable. What I have been able to incorporate into Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® and Fundamental Movement Pilates℠, is taking an individuals’ posture and using that as the base line for both therapy and movement.
Over the past 23 years I have analyzed how the bio-mechanics of movement and posture really work. Understanding some of the basic principles of Kinesiology I took individual muscles and broke them down to understand the finer aspects of their movement capabilities. In future articles I will break down the intricate movement the muscles make and how they are addressed in both therapy and movement.
I originally developed Postural Balancing which I called “The Gibbons Method of Postural Balancing©” and had good results but felt I was still missing a key ingredient. In 1997 I started instructing Massage Therapy at Cuyahoga Community College and incorporated a book, “The Anatomy of Movement” by Blandine Calais-Germain. The thought process in using this book was in movement was when most people experienced discomfort. Around the same time is when I was introduced to Dolly Kelepecz, a professional dancer in Las Vegas and an instructor of dance and Pilates at UNLV. Watching and learning how the body should move and incorporating the essentials of this text book, which described the Anatomy of Movement as: Bones being the movers; Joints permitting the movement; Tendons and muscles as the engine that started movement, was when I truly started to understand the correlation between posture and movement.
The fact of the matter was that all movement was truly a choreographed dance that we all perform and in the process we all work with and counteract gravity. The human body, in a bipedal form, truly defies many of the theories of Physics. The ability of the body to move truly is a miracle. From my years as a Pipefitter I can tell you how difficult and intricate it is in moving fluids and gases so that they are not only contained but are able to efficiently supply the energy they need to. Well the human body starts moving and continues to move so that we are able to exist. In the embryo we are suspended in water and in this physical state we need the internal water to aid in our movement. The skeletal system’s ability to move is aided and guided by this internal fluid system. Remember as adults we are made up of approximately 70% of water. This fluid is moved throughout our bodies through our intricate system of diaphragms or bellows. This acts as our internal hydraulic system that creates an internal pressure to counteract the 15 psi pull of gravity.
So if gravity is pulling us down we need to push away in order to move. The combination of breath and fluid, aid the skeletal system in performing the fundamental process of movement, by providing the buoyancy necessary to neutralize the effects of gravity. This brings about the process of bio-tensegrity. The term Tensegrity is a portmanteau or combination of words fused to imply meaning: tension and integrity. In the tensegral aspect of the body there is an even push and pull to help us maintain our posture so that gravity will not overcome us and render our structure incapable of movement. The bones push while the tendons and muscles pull. The following is taken from one of my lectures on tensegrity and will give you the basics of its philosophy:
The pattern that results when push and pull have a win-win relationship with each other.
Pull is continuous; push is discontinuous
Continuous pull is balanced by the tensegrity and is any balanced system composed of two elements – a continuous pull (muscle) balanced by a discontinuous push (bone).
When these two forces are in balance, the result is a maximally strong and stabilized system
In evaluation these are the aspects that must be determined in order to apply the necessary changes to re-pattern the brain to command movement in a comfortable format. Through many years of micro traumas that often begin at birth the body has compensated and altered its movement patterns. The brain is capable of making these micro changes until one day it runs out of options. When these options run out that is when this delicate system of tensegrity is compromised and individuals experience discomfort.
What really happens in movement can be described in the following formula:
The brain processes a thought that is necessary to create the movement
The proprioception systems of the body perceives and determines what alterations are necessary to fulfill that process, this prepares the joints which are supported by the ligaments to the movement that is to take place
The brain and central nervous system interprets the process and sends out the necessary motor responses that fulfill that movement
The tendons receive these messages and instruct the muscle fibers on how much dynamics are needed to pull on the bone so that it has the necessary power to fulfill the movement.
With the joints in a predisposed position, the tendons begin the pull on the skeletal system and the amount of muscle fibers needed to fulfill the movement then fire and in that 1/100th of second provide the force needed for the bones to finish the push to finish the movement.
With the understanding that the average human only uses approximately 20% of the muscle fibers that are present under normal use, the brain determines how many fibers are needed to complete the movement process. Research has determined that a professional athlete in their peak performance only uses approximately 40% of the total muscle fibers.
The next aspect that Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® and Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ practitioner will engage is the action potential of the muscle itself. What this means is that a muscle contracts completely to generate movement and then relaxes. Muscles have the capability of shortening or lengthening or what we refer to as concentric or eccentric movement. When the muscle has not completed a full action potential, for example in cases of potential injury, it will hold its partial isometric contraction. In this scenario, the muscle no longer is capable of taking part in the movement process or at least is limited to its participation. When this takes place the matrix of the Fascia system is compromised and this alteration will further inhibit smooth movement.
Encased in this complex matrix system is all of the internal structures of the body and it is this fabric that allows the skin to stay intact during movement. Oftentimes individuals will come in and tell us that they cannot move one of their extremities without a burning sensation or a restriction that prevents a full range of motion. This most likely is a restriction in one of the peripheral nerves that will be needed to be addressed to release this barricade. This discomfort will be the necessary marker to alter the balance or the compensation that the brain needs to provide to allow the movement to be as comfortable as possible.
Next month we will explore how this discomfort alters movement and oftentimes is the discomfort that is initially felt and brings people to our Wellness Center. Another quote that I subscribe to is one that my mentor, Dr. Tom Maday, D.C. often used, “Where it is, it ain’t!” Many times people will come in with the complaint of low back pain, but that is often the middle child syndrome, it gets the blame but is often not the culprit.
Until next month, please enjoy and embrace the Love and Peace that this holiday season brings. It is a great time to review the past year, rectify and change what was not pleasing to us, build on what was and look forward to a healthy and prosperous year. One resolution that I urge everyone to do is develop the thought process of continuing your journey to wellness both mentally and physically.
During the year 2010 Chagrin Valley Wellness Center will continue to help provide you a Pathway on your Wellness Journey© and support you in any way that we can. The mission statement for Chagrin Valley Wellness Center as authored by Marge is:
Our Mission is to ACHIEVE Proper Client Posture for Ease of Movement,
Maintain CORE Strength, And PRESERVE Flexibility.
We thank you for the confidence you have shown us in the past and continue to look forward to earning your confidence in the future.
Peace and Blessings,
Dennis