Waves
All information is carried via waves. Whether it be radio waves, light waves or gravitational. This is how we gather information about the world around us. A disturbance in the surroundings creates a ripple, and we pick up on that via our senses. When we move, the ground sends a mechanical wave through our tissues and depending on both its shape and our ability to deform around it guides our strategies.
Every time our foot hits the ground, the ground sends a wave of energy back to us which provides us with this necessary ingredient to propel forward. Isaac Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When we strike the ground, that amount of force is matched and propagated through our tissues in a particular waveform. The faster we move, the faster the wave we encounter and the shorter the wavelength. A sprinter has less time to capture the energy from the ground and transform it into useful propulsion toward the finish line.
Our physical shape guides the energy traveling from the ground. Imagine a large water balloon and a lead pipe both striking the ground but not breaking. Those two materials produce very different responses to the energy received from the ground upon contact. The pipe will produce a rapid vibration and high-pitched sound, while the water balloon most likely will have a lower pitch and softer sound. Our physical makeup has the same response when we strike the ground, whether it be during a sprint or a push up, we direct energy and information the same way.
When we move through the world, we must orient our bodies in order to best accomplish the task at hand. If we want to reach forward and grasp a glass from the kitchen cabinet, we would be best served by having a slow, refined strategy. Whereas if a boxer wants to inflict the most damage, reaching forward as fast and forceful as possible toward his opponent will be most effective. Those two approaches produce very different responses at the tissue level. In the former tissues are relaxed and pliable, while the latter produces stiffness and rigidity.
Our environment and our decisions within it impact how our bodies change over time. The choice to train at a high level for long periods of time, create a stiffness and short wavelength that changes our shape. A sedentary lifestyle tends to limit forces at the expense of being able to move quickly when we need to. Folks that spend time in-between tend to do pretty well, they maintain the characteristics needed to alter energy and change the waveforms when appropriate.
Austin Ulrich, Physical Therapist
