Aug 11 ⢠General discussion
𧨠Are Activation Exercises Pointless?
Let me guess. Underactive or lazy glutes. A thousand clamshells. Rotator cuff doesnât âfireâ? Banded external rotation times one hundred. Certain lexicon on social media creates the impression that muscles are sort of like light switches - you flip it on, it works. You flip it off, it doesnât. While the metal circuitry of electrical systems is somewhat resemblant of our vast internal neural circuits, it is not the case of âonâ or âoffâ.
Our nervous system is far less binary than that - every time you stand up, your glutes donât fire 100%. They contract just enough to match the load of your bodyweight - if you were to perform a one rep max squat, then it would be closer to 100%. The intensity of power produced by a muscle is a spectrum, sort of like a dimmer switch which depends on the number and size of motor units recruited for the job (depending on the job).
When you perform an exercise with the purpose of âactivationâ in mind, itâs more of a brain and neurological thing as opposed to the muscle itself - when used properly, they can shift neuromuscular attention to the âlazyâ muscle and enhance motor awareness of it. Activation drills arenât pointless - just overprescribed and misunderstood.
But the thing is, muscles canât really be âlazyâ or âasleepâ - the dimmer switch is turned to 0% only when your nervous system has shut down, for example if a nerve has been damaged or severed. So why have you been told that your glutes, or any other muscle for that matter, isnât 'firing properly' during life or certain exercises?
Well, for starters, in order for a muscle to 'fire' (or recruit motor neurones and contract) it needs to have leverage. For example, if you are beginning a squat with a hyperextended spine and an uncontrolled anterior pelvic tilt, your glutes are pre-lengthened to the point of losing mechanical advantage. So first point to address would be your positioning. The second would be the exercise set-up itself - change stance width. Change the resistance profile (go from free-weight to a machine). Change leverage - swap the arm in which you hold a dumbbell in, try a safety bar, try a front-rack squat. Chances are, your glutes are not âturned offâ - they are just missing optimal set up to work to their full capacity.
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𧨠Are Activation Exercises Pointless?
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